The Unwilling Ambassador (Book 3) (5 page)

Percy shrugged. "He has a strange moral code for an assassin."

"Any moral code for an assassin other than not get caught is strange," Canto quipped.

Sins didn't even flinch at the insult, but Percy shook his head. "That's not true. Sins agreed to help me because he couldn't stand the slaughter, either. Without his help I would never have gotten out of the city. My father would have stopped me and branded me a traitor."

"Weren't you?" Ned spoke up in an offhand manner.

"Not to my people," Percy countered with a smile.

The travelers rode on and at Salaron it was decided a portion of them would scout the trail ahead, and the rest would stay with the gargoyles and protect them. Canto, Ruth and Pat opted to stay, while the other four, the two young men, Sins and Ned, went forward. A few sputtering columns of smoke told them there was still activity in the city, and the view from the top of the hill confirmed it. The undead still roamed the streets, but in less number than before.

Percy was confused by so few undead. "Have there always been this few attackers?" he asked them.

"No," Ned replied. Their eyes focused on the glowing stone in the square around which congregated the greatest concentration of undead.

"So this will be easier than we expected?" Percy guessed. "All we need do is clomp the coconuts within hearing range of the stone and it will be destroyed?"

In answer to his question Ned raised his staff and a tiny sparkler emerged from the tip. It gently floated over the ruined city and within twenty yards of the stone. The shining rock came alive as the pulsing light ignited and a column of brilliance shot into the sky. Undead creatures jumped from the column and grabbed at the sparkler. Their clawed, decayed hands sliced and tore the sparkler into dust, and the light was extinguished. With the threat destroyed the column of light disappeared, but the number of undead didn't diminish.

Percy's face paled. "I stand corrected, but was that wise to alert them to our presence?"

Ned nodded at the stone. "Would you have appreciated that surprise on us rather than on that small bit of magic?" he countered.

Percy smirked. "I suppose not, and it seems even from the air we have the disadvantage." He turned to Sins. "Have you any suggestions on avoiding that detection mechanism?"

Sins dark eyes glanced over the city, and they stopped on a particular group of undead. These ones shuffled around in circles on the outer ring of the city. Sins nodded at the undead. "They will provide us the cover we need," Sins told them.

Fred looked at the assassin as though he was insane. The young man suspected he wasn't too far from the truth. "How are they going to help us?"

Ned pulled at his beard and nodded. "That may work," he agreed with Sins.

"What may work?" Fred asked him.

Percy's eyes lit up and his smile slipped into a smirk. "That is very ingenious, even for you, Sins, but how are we going to use the undead without destroying them?"

"What's ingenious?" Fred yelled at them.

Ned wrapped an arm around Fred's shoulders and grinned at the boy. "How would you like another new outfit?"

Fred blinked. "Um, no?" he guessed.

"But you might look becoming in undead," Ned insisted.

"Undead?" Fred squeaked.

"Exactly," Ned replied. "The only way to get close to the stone undetected is to be undead, but seeing as none of us is willing to go the full distance then we will need to acquire outfits to deceive the stone. That's where you come in."

The other two with them were surprised, and Percy gestured to Fred. "Where he comes in?" Percy repeated. "Why not let Sins handle them and we create the skins?" Fred's face paled. These mad people intended to wrap themselves in rotting corpse flesh.

"Those undead are too close to the others. They need to be led away, and our best bait is Fred here," Ned insisted. "Then I can use my magic and Sins his skills to capture them."

Fred's eyes widened and he tried to slink out of Ned's grasp. The old castor wasn't letting go. "Maybe we can try flying over again?" Fred desperately suggested. "The gargoyles are a lot faster than a floating sparkler."

Ned solemnly shook his head. "I'm not willing to risk their lives."

"But I'm risk-able?" Fred countered.

"You only need to catch their attention and let them shamble after you," Ned pointed out. He grabbed Fred's chin and turned him to face the city. "See how slow they move? A blind, one-legged beggar could outrace their gait." Fred gulped. Those things hadn't looked so slow when they sprang from the column. "And you needn't lead them too far. We will wait for you behind those rocks." Ned indicated a pile of stones along the road that led past the dead city. The distance from the group of undead to the stones was two hundred yards. "Just to be safe you should leave Fluffy with us."

Fred was marched execution-style down the hill road and the group stopped at the rocks. He was shoved out from behind the protection, and glanced back to see the three men and Fluffy peeking over the top of the rocks. "We'll be right behind you," Ned encouraged him.

"Thanks..." Fred muttered.

Fred sighed and crept toward the group of shambling undead. They walked in and out of a hole in the remains of the defensive wall as though guarding the city from the living. Fred dodged behind boulders and abandoned carts overturned from the rushed evacuation. He came within twenty yards of them when he found he no longer had any closer hiding spots. This was the time to catch their attention and lead them back to his ex-friends.

Fred took a deep breath, stepped out in the open and waved his hands. That's when a thought hit him. Why wasn't Percy more expendable than him? Unfortunately, the undead didn't care who was standing there with their hands outstretched and a puzzled expression on their face. They saw fresh food and went for it. They traded their shambling gait in for a souped-up sprint. Fred's eyes widened, and with a scream he spun around and raced for the others.

The growling and moaning came closer and faster than the rocks ahead of him, and Fred risked a glance back. The undead were on his heels and still catching with their teeth gnashing and their mouths salivating for his juicy flesh. Fred reached for his stick, but Ned climbed above the rocks and cupped his hands together. "Don't use magic! The stone will see you!" Ned yelled to the young man.

Fred rolled his eyes, and turned in time to dodge a dive by one of the undead. Its fingers scraped the sleeve of his new cloak, and when he finished rolling out of the way he scowled down at his damaged coat. He lifted his furious gaze at the half dozen creatures, and when another jumped at him he twisted around and swung a fist into its rotting jaw. Its teeth flew off and clamped onto the closest undead, but that didn't stop any of them. Fred yelped and jumped up high enough to avoid another dead dive-bomber, this time at his legs. His feet smashed down on its head and he used it as a springboard toward the rocks and his allies. The undead pursued him over a zigzag course from one boulder to another as he retraced his steps perfectly.

Fred reached the rocks with his lungs burning and the creatures all lined up behind him. When he was twenty yards from the rock Ned yelled at him, "Duck!"

"Are you kidding me?" Fred screamed back. Ducking would have made him a sitting duck.

Ned pointed his staff at Fred, who widened his eyes and dove to the ground. Sins shot out from the side of the rock brandishing a large dagger, and he cut the legs out from beneath the undead. Their limbs turned into piles of dust and they dropped to the ground, but dragged themselves toward Fred. He flipped over and kicked at them before a beam of light pierced the six undead in their heads. They fell face-forward into small heaps of rotting flesh and stopped moving.

Percy came over and helped Fred up. "Maybe next time you can be the bait," Fred wheezed to him.

Percy laughed. "I hope there isn't a next time. That didn't look like much fun."

Ned passed them both and tapped on one of the heads. There was a hollow sound, and he smiled and gave a nod. "This will do very well."

"You're not getting me to wear one of those things," Fred refused.

Ned chuckled, and flipped one of the undead over. The innards were gone, replaced with a smooth sheet of leather attached to the skin. The same was true for the arms where they were merely shells of skin without bone or sinew. "It's nothing more than a hood," Ned told him.

Percy stooped and picked up one of the undead. "So that's how you can use an undead skin. Keep the head intact and remove every other part to create a skin costume."

"Precisely," Ned replied.

Percy tossed the six skins over his shoulder and straightened. "Perhaps we should return to the girls and see how they are doing," he suggested.

"And Canto," Fred reminded him.

The other boy smirked and whispered a few words on passing by him back to the steeds. "I thought I'd already mentioned him."

Ned followed Percy, but Fluffy stayed beside Fred and growled at something behind him. Fred turned to see Sins staring at him. "Oh, um, thanks for saving me," Fred shakily thanked him. "So, um, why don't you use that knife more often?" he asked Sins.

"A cut can miss a vital organ, but a poison dart will always kill the victim," Sins replied.

"I'll, um, I'll remember that," Fred replied. Fred stuck close to Fluffy on the way back to the horses, and the four humans returned to camp.

CHAPTER 6

"What in the world was that column of light?" Pat asked them when they returned to camp. She noticed the clean skins over Percy's shoulder. "And what are those?"

"Useful disguises," Ned told her. "And the column of light was an experiment. It seems we won't be able to fly to the stone as we planned."

"Are there more undead in the city?" she wondered.

Percy set the skins down beside crackling fire that made up the center of their camp. "Worse, the stone protects itself with that column of light. Undead creatures spring out and attack anything that gets near it."

Ruth picked up one of the skins and turned it over in her hands. "So these will allow us to get closer?" she guessed.

Pat took one and looked it over. "What are they?"

"The corpses of six undead creatures," Ned told them.

The girls yelped and dropped the skins onto the pile. Pat glared at him. "Couldn't you have told us that before we picked them up?"

Percy laughed and draped one of the skins over himself. The head and arms settled on his respective parts, and the rib bones enclosed over his chest to hide his upper body. The only pieces missing were the chopped off legs. "If you want to help in the attack you're going to have to wear one," he pointed out.

"And now would be a good time to attack," Ned spoke up.

"After you attacked that stone? Isn't the stone still alert to danger?" Pat countered.

Ned chuckled. "The stones and their underlings are as intelligent as rocks, and the undead who jumped from the stone at my decoy magic were being reabsorbed into the stone when we crested the hill," he replied.

Ruth looked to the statues of her clan. "But what about my clan?" she asked them. "We can't leave them without a guard."

"If we're successful this should take a short while," Ned reassured her.

"And if we're not?" Pat countered.

Ned slipped a skin over himself. "Well, there are six skins and seven of us. Who would like to play the part of the coward?" Fred's hand shot up, and Pat rolled her eyes. Ned smiled and pulled at his beard. "I suppose you have played a large enough part in this mission. You and Fluffy will remain among the rocks at the bottom of the hill and watch for signs of trouble. If you see anything before we reach the stone you're to whistle."

Fred eagerly nodded and inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Ruth gestured to their campsite. "I would rather remain here and protect my clan," she informed them.

Fred's shoulders slumped, and Ned patted him on the back. "It seems you're to come with us after all," Ned chuckled.

Fred and Pat both shuddered, but suited up along with Percy, Sins, Ned and Canto. The attack party hid their weapons against their bodies and crept down the hill, leaving Fluffy at the pile of rocks. They stopped at the final rock Fred had found in front of the wall opening, and Canto glanced at Ned. "Are ya sure these will fool the others?" he asked the castor.

Ned shrugged. "In theory," he admitted.

Canto's face fell. "Then perhaps one of us should go inside and test yer theory," he suggested.

Ned looked to Fred. "Fred, are you-"

"I'll go," Pat offered. They all glanced at her as though she were insane, and Canto frowned. She rolled her eyes. "The city is a wreck. If I find trouble I'm the one best able to climb and jump onto the roofs," she pointed out. A smirk slipped onto her face. "Unless we want the dwarf to hop through the city."

Canto harrumphed and waved off her words. "Let the girl go."

Pat pulled the undead skin snug over her thin frame and darted toward the opening. More undead had gathered at the hole, and she crept up to the small group. If they noticed her coming they didn't acknowledge it, but instead kept shuffling around the gap. Her companions held their breath when she slipped past them and into the city, but she quickly peeked back out and gestured for them to follow. They crept past the sentries and into the dead city. The devastation up close was even more heart-rending. Most of the houses were destroyed and personal treasures littered the streets. The dead shambled through searching for more victims to wet their appetite. It was enough to make Fred's stomach churn.