The Firemage's Vengeance (20 page)

“Of course not. Well done,” said Mako. “Now return to the surface. I will doubtless send you a message soon, and you must act quickly when I do.”

“I can stay,” she said fiercely. “Let me fight.” But suddenly her body gave a shudder, and she slumped against the wall. Ebon saw that one of her hands was pressed tight to her side, and he saw a dark liquid staining her fingers.

“No more battles for you tonight,” said Mako. “Do as I say, or I will give you a bruise to go with that scratch.”

“Then at least we would match,” she said, and grunted out a pained laugh. She held forth a hand, and she and Mako seized wrists before drawing each other close for a one-armed embrace. Before she could go, Ebon took a step forwards.

“Thank you,” he said. “For saving me. The other night, I mean.”

She glared at him. “A fool’s gratitude is of little worth.”

Then she stepped into the shadows and vanished.

“Who is she?” said Ebon. “Her name, I mean. I did not get to thank her before—or I did not think of it.”

“She is Talib,” said Mako, “and has been my pupil for many years. She has saved your skin more times than you know—certainly more than the one time you saw her doing it. Come. We are not far now.”

He crept forwards, so that Ebon and Kalem no longer had to struggle to keep up—but while his footsteps were quiet as a shadow, and Theren, too, moved muffled and silent, Ebon’s and Kalem’s steps now seemed horribly loud, and Ebon winced every time his toes caught upon a crack in the stone with a scuffling noise. Mako glared back at him once or twice, and though he said nothing, Ebon’s face burned with embarrassment each time.

But then all such thoughts were banished, for ahead they saw the orange glow of a torch, and far off, Ebon could hear the creaking of wagon wheels, a sound as familiar to him as his own breath. Too, there were tramping boots, and they moved quickly, not at some easy walking pace. Whoever accompanied the wagon, they knew they were pursued, and were making good time to escape. But not good enough, clearly, for the noise quickly grew louder.

Soon they saw the wagon: it rolled along with a deep rumble, pulled by two Yerrin guards in green cloaks, holding spars that stuck out from the front of it. Three more guards accompanied the cart, walking behind and to either side of it. Two of these held torches, lighting the way forwards.

“Fools,” muttered Mako, after he had let them draw a bit ahead and out of sight. “Those torches may show them where they are going, but also serve to make the procession easy to see. And they will not spy us until we are almost upon them.”

“What is in that wagon?” said Kalem, eyes wide with fright. “Are they moving magestones?”

“No,” said Mako. “Only supplies, to feed and care for the crew of a ship, that will soon launch from their hidden dock. But upon that ship there are magestones, and Yerrin means to send them out across the nine lands. That is not our chief worry tonight, though. Tonight we hunt for Gregor, and mayhap Isra.”

“I am more worried about Isra than Gregor,” said Ebon.

“Yet you are not in command here, and should not even have come,” said Mako, glaring at him. “Therefore your worries are of no consequence.”

“Well, what do we mean to do now?” said Theren. “I did not see Gregor among the guards—unless the tales of his size and strength are only exaggeration. And Isra certainly was not there.”

“Yet we should stop that wagon all the same,” said Mako. “Anything to disrupt the family Yerrin and their criminal activities is a gift to the High King.”

Kalem nodded solemnly, clearly missing the joke; Ebon rolled his eyes at the thought of Mako risking life and limb to uphold the King’s law. But Mako was right in any case—to reach Gregor and Isra, they would have to get through the wagon guards. “What do you mean to do?”

Mako grinned at Theren. “Do you wish to show off that magic of yours, girl?”

Theren smiled in return.

In a few heartbeats Mako outlined the plan, and they ran forwards again in the darkness. When they came to the next corner, Ebon and Kalem stopped while Mako and Theren pressed on. They saw a flash of light as Theren’s eyes glowed, for she did not bother to hide it with the amulet, and then she burst around the corner beside Mako.

The cart flipped over, slamming to the stone floor upside-down, its contents spilling all over. The wheels flew off, each one striking a guard to either side. They fell with pained cries, their torches falling into the passing flow of water and waste. The guards floundered in the sudden darkness, reaching for blades at their waists—but too slow. Theren struck again, and invisible bands of force picked them up, slamming them into the wall. Their faces were pressed into the stone, so that they could not see behind them.

“Boys,” growled Mako.

Ebon and Kalem ran forwards at once. The light in the tunnel increased as they reached for their magic, and then together they pressed their fingers to the stone. It flowed out and around the guards, wrapping around their wrists and ankles in bands so that they were held in place. In a moment it was done, and all three of the children released their hold on their magic. The tunnel was plunged into darkness again. They waited for their eyes to adjust to the small shafts of moonslight from above.

“We should destroy their goods,” said Mako. “But I would rather not throw them into the water, in case they are carried down to where our enemies await, and they are warned of our presence.”

“A moment,” said Ebon. He reached into the pocket of his cloak and produced Halab’s firestriker. Mako’s eyes lit upon it, and he gave Ebon a hard look.

“It was a gift, from …” Ebon trailed off, looking at the guards on the wall. They could not see, but they could hear. “Well, from family.”

Many of the goods were wrapped in cloth, and he tore it up to put in piles at the wagon’s corners. With a few touches of the firestriker, the cloth lit, and soon flames licked up to spread along the wagon’s lengthy spars.

“That will do it,” said Mako.

“And what of them?” said Kalem, pointing to the soldiers pressed to the wall.

“Do what you will to us,” said one of the guards, speaking into the wall, for the stone bands still pressed her tight against it. “You’ll not find it so easy when you get to the end of the tunnel, wretches.”

Mako grinned. “Let her down.”

Ebon looked at him, aghast, but Mako only nodded. So Ebon went forwards and shifted stone again, releasing the bands that held her. The moment her boots touched the ground, she turned and reached for his throat. But Mako seized an arm and snapped it against his wrist. Ebon heard the sick crunch of a breaking bone, and the woman cried out. Then Mako smashed an elbow into her nose, and she fell to the ground.

“Girl,” said Mako. “The amulet. Place her under your spell.”

“What? I did not agree to use mindwyrd,” said Theren.

“I would not ask you to make her kill herself,” said Mako. His voice was soothing, though his hands jerked as he restrained the Yerrin guard, who fought to rise. “I mean to keep magestones out of the hands of rogue wizards. Only that. I promise.”

Theren hesitated—but then Ebon felt an itching across the back of his neck, the signal that magic was in the air. Her eyes did not glow, and he knew she had the power of mindwyrd.

“Stop,” said Theren.

The Yerrin guard stopped squirming on the floor at once. “Yes,” she said, her tone dead and lifeless.

“You will not remember any of our faces,” said Theren. “After you have left the sewer, you will forget seeing us, or that you were attacked at all.”

“Yes,” said the guard.

Theren looked to Mako. “Now what?”

“Have her go to the Mystics,” said Mako, smiling. “Have her tell them where we are going, and that they should go there in all haste, for they will find a hefty supply of magestones if they do.”

“But they will find us,” said Theren, taking a step back. “If they learn what I carry …”

“We will be quick, and will have vanished by the time they arrive. But they will be there to clean up the mess, and deal a grievous blow to the family Yerrin.” Mako gave them all a look. “You, more than others, should object to more magestones finding their way into the nine lands. We can do a great deal to stop it, now, tonight.”

“Very well,” said Theren. She looked at the guard again. “You will find the first Mystic you can. You will tell them of these tunnels, and how they lead to the rest of your kin. You will tell the Mystics that they will find magestones here, but only if they come into the sewers, now, at once.”

“Yes,” said the guard.

“Go, then.”

The guard turned on her heel and marched away, back down the way Ebon and the others had come. The tingle on the back of Ebon’s neck disappeared, and he shivered. Beside him, Kalem did the same.

“We have taken longer than we should have,” said Mako. “Onward.”

twenty-four

IT WAS NOT LONG AFTER that that the tunnel widened at last, and they came into a vast, open space underground. Here the walls and floor were hewn from living rock, rather than built of cut stone, and there were many outcroppings all about. Mako ducked behind one of these, and the children hastened to follow.

They had reached some sort of underground grotto, Ebon saw. He could smell saltwater over the bitter stench of the sewer waste, so surmised that the water in this cavern must run out to the Great Bay. They must be somewhere near the western end of the Seat, he guessed, if not at its very edge.

Where the tunnels emerged into the cavern was a narrow platform, and this joined a raised stone path that ran around the cave’s right edge, with many guards posted along it. A fair distance away, the path ended at a wooden dock lined with torches, illuminating a ship.

It was no great vessel, smaller than a schooner, but wider, built for capacity more than speed. Two masts it had, though Ebon saw a sail upon only one of them. He guessed it had room for no more than five crew. Some of these walked about the deck, checking lines and stowing cargo, while others managed workers on the dock. There were many crates, barrels and sacks to load, it seemed, and where they were open, Ebon could see that most of them were filled with small packets of brown cloth.

“There,” said Mako, pointing at the packets. “Those are magestones, or I am a fool.”

“Can it not be both?” said Theren.

Mako snorted—whether in dismissal or in a quickly stifled laugh, Ebon could not tell. “What we see here is worth more than a king’s ransom. What do you say? Shall we rob them of it?”

“I do not want to steal magestones,” said Kalem quickly.

Mako rolled his eyes. “Loosen your death grip upon your honor, goldshitter. I mean to destroy their cargo, not to take it for ourselves. Magestones are a toxic good to trade, as the family Yerrin is soon to discover.”

“We did not come for their magestones,” said Theren. “We came for Isra. Where is she?”

“I do not see her or Gregor,” said Mako. “Either they have come and gone, or they are still on their way, and will arrive soon. If it is the latter, we would be wise to create as much chaos as we can before they arrive, so that they cannot muster these guards against us. If it is the former, then we have already lost their trail tonight, and should do what good we can—by which I mean, chiefly, destroying the cargo Yerrin hopes to escape with.”

“Very well,” said Ebon. “What shall we do?”

“I tell you again that we shall do nothing, and this time I mean it,” said Mako. “I have taken you farther already than I should have, and it ends here. You will keep watch. If anyone else should emerge from the tunnel whence we came, you must warn Theren and me so that we are not taken unawares.”

Ebon glared, and Kalem did not look entirely pleased either. But they could feel the sand passing through the hourglass—they had little time, for the Mystics would soon be on their way. “Very well. How should I signal you?”

“Squeal like a rabbit, for all I care,” said Mako. “Only do not let them see you, and make sure you are not within reach. There is a little rocky shelf up there on the wall—that is where you should wait.”

“What will the two of you do?” said Kalem.

“We will make this a night Yerrin remembers, and regrets,” said Mako. “Come, Theren.”

Together he and Theren stole forwards, bent almost double in the shadows, while Ebon and Kalem scrambled onto the shelf. It was just above head-height, with the ceiling pressing down low enough above them that they had to lie down to keep from bumping their skulls.

Ebon thought that Mako and Theren would take the stone path, but Mako turned from it at once. Then Ebon saw that there were other stone shelves, like the one he rested on, though not so smooth, so that the Yerrin guards avoided them. But the stone came in levels, and all of them were lower than the stone path, so that Mako and Theren could creep along unseen.

He saw them approach the first guard, who stood on the path. They inched forwards until they were as close to the guard as possible, but below him and out of sight. Theren popped her head up and into the torchlight. Ebon froze, and almost called out—but then Theren said something he could not hear, and the guard froze.

A few more hasty words she muttered, and then ducked out of sight again. The guard set off down the path. He approached the next guard, who leaned unaware against the wall. The unwitting target looked only at the last moment—but too late, for the first guard smashed the pommel of his sword into the side of her helmet. She fell to the floor, senseless.

The other guards saw it, and they called out in alarm as they came running to help. There were at least half a dozen of them, and Ebon knew that Theren’s mindwyrded guard stood no chance. But just as they approached, Mako and Theren struck.

Mako leapt up on the path, seizing one of the guards and planting a dagger in his throat. He fell from the path and slid down the shelf into the water. Ebon winced. Theren struck with her magic, seizing two of the guards and flinging them from the path. They fell screaming into the water, and fought to keep hold of the rock wall as they tugged off their chain mail. Mako nearly killed another, but Theren struck again, too quickly. Her magic picked up all three guards who still stood and slammed them into the stone wall with the strength of dragon’s breath. They fell unconscious to the floor.