Zoran Chronicles Volume 1 A Dragon in Our Town (22 page)

            
Five minutes later, they approached Zea’s Charcoal shop. However, just before
the shop, Zeb stopped and turned down the alley, pulling hard on his leash. “This way,
this way,” Bernard called out, although he did not need to have said a thing. It was
obvious that the dog was following Jiri’s scent. Zoran speculated that here at the edge of
the alley the assassin had taken Brother Jiri prisoner.

            
As Jarka made the turn into the alley, following along behind as she was wont to
do, she paused and picked up a tiny dart. She sniffed it. “Zoran, here. I found this dart.
Got some residue on it, probably something that would subdue a person. I will analyze it
when we get back to the tower.”

            
On went Zeb, trotting merrily along the alleys of Brn. For a half hour, they went
down one alley only to detour into another alleyway. This assassin was making it very
difficult for any tracker to find him, Zoran noted, hoping the assassin had not counted
on a dog. At last Zeb halted and seemed confused. He headed toward a street, back
tracked and headed down the alley again, then backtracked once more.

            
“What’s happening? Has he lost the scent?” Zoran asked.

            
“No, it’s likely that the assassin has crossed paths with himself. Probably came
this way earlier. What’s out there on the street?”

            
“An inn, though not a nice one,” Jarka called out from the rear. “Probably the
assassin was staying there, it’s cheap.”

            
“Okay, he can’t beat Jiri up in the inn,” Bernard concluded. He convinced Zeb to
continue following the trail down the alley. The dog was off once more. Five minutes
later, Zeb stopped by a back door that led into some kind of warehouse. While Bernard
kept his dog quiet, Jarka doubled back to see the building from the main street. She sent
them a message saying she didn’t see anyone around. No lights were on inside the front
and the door was locked.

            
Cautiously, Zoran tried the back door. It, too, was securely locked. While they
were conferring on the best way to break in without losing their element of surprise,
Jarka reappeared behind them. “Move over. Let a master at it,” she coyly teased them.
“Have you figured out what we’re doing once the door is opened?”

            
“We rush in and cut him to pieces!” Karel growled angrily.

            
“No, wait, if we do that, he might just kill Jiri,” Zoran cautioned. “Stealth. First
objective: find Jiri. Once we find him, some of us stay with him and protect him while
the rest of us go after this assassin. Cast Invisible and let’s fan out inside, looking for
Jiri. Whoever finds him, message the rest of us.” Quickly, the seven cast their spells, and
then Jarka masterfully picked the lock. Bernard decided to stay outside with his dog, just
in case the assassin tried to make a hasty exit. Invisible and with his sword drawn,
Bernard waited patiently in the shadows, though it looked a bit strange to see a dog on a
leash being held by an invisible hand. Bernard soon realized this and cast another spell
on his dog as well.

            
“Ta da,” Jarka whispered her tease to the others. The door creaked a little as it
opened. All seven stole inside, feeling the bodies of others who were in front of them.
After all, they were invisible and couldn’t see each other either.

            
In the dim light inside coming from some mica windows up front, Zoran saw
boxes piled around the sides of a large space. It was a warehouse, no doubt of that. The
question was: where was Jiri being held? As the seven moved about the large space, the
floor boards occasionally creaked. Zoran guessed that if this assassin was any good at all,
he would hear their noise and know someone was sneaking around inside.

            
Minutes passed, sweat began dripping from Zoran’s forehead; the warehouse was
hot and very stuffy. He realized that he was now leaving telltale drops on the floor!
Where were they anyway?

            
I found him. Southeast corner behind crates! I’m teleporting him to the tower!
Zdenka cast her message spell to the others and prepared to cast her teleport spell. Out
of the shadows a man dressed in black stepped, his right fist delivered a solid blow to her
jaw, sending her flying backwards, stunned. He slipped back into the shadows. Hastily
everyone rushed to the southeast corner.

            
“Damn!” Zoran cursed, breaking his silence. Zdenka lay sprawled on the floor
near the chair to which Brother Jiri was tied, blindfolded, and now unconscious.
Although he was now quite visible and he had not yet seen the assassin, he added
angrily, “If you’ve hurt her, I will personally make you pay dearly, assassin!”

            
From the top of a crate a hand tossed some powder down onto Zoran. His inner
senses forced his body to again dive to the right, rolling as he hit the floor. The powder,
which had been intended for his eyes, blinding him, fell harmlessly to the floor where he
had stood. With a pair wicked, S-shaped daggers dripping a black liquid, one in each
hand, the assassin jumped down to stab him in his back. Out of position, Zoran began
rolling as rapidly as he could, hoping to buy enough distance so he could get to his feet.

            
Suddenly, the assassin cried out in pain; his back went stiff as a board; both
daggers fell to the floor. Jarka appeared behind him, her invisibility lost because she had
now attacked. Her dagger had cut deep into his back, severing his aorta. In slow motion,
the assassin slowly dropped to his knees, his eyes closed. As the last bit of life pulsed
from his body, he slumped forward, face down on the dirty warehouse floor. Jarka held
on to her dagger, which slid out of his body as he fell forward. Jarka spat on the man,
“Foul assassin, death is too good for you.”

            
“Way to go, Jarka! Thanks, I was in a bit of a tight spot there,” Zoran exclaimed.
“Zdenka’s been hurt.” He got up and rushed to her side. “I’ll take her; you all bring Jiri.
To the tower immediately.” He cast his teleport spell and he and Zdenka disappeared.

            
Karel brought Jiri with him seconds later. The twins followed on their own.
Jarka, however, remained behind. First she sent a message for Bernard to join her.
Then, she began to search the dead assassin. Bernard soon stood over her looking, and
she hastily explained what had happened and where the others had gone. “We’re going
to examine him, first. Then, we need to dispose of his body. Whatever you do, don’t
touch those weird daggers; they are covered in some kind of poison.”

            
Carefully, she began searching him, confiscating a number of items, including his
money pouch. She found an empty vial, which she determined had contained the poison,
along with two more bottles as yet unopened. Bernard commented, “You know, we
ought to get rid of the poison. I mean what if some worker stumbles and falls into it and
gets it on his hands or something? There are cracks in the floor boards. I’m going to
conjure some water and wash the poison into the cracks. I don’t reckon it will do any
harm on the dirt underneath the warehouse.”

            
He cast his spell and water began flowing over the daggers. Sure enough it slowly
drained beneath the cracks. Seeing that this was being successful, Jarka grinned and
began dumping the other two vials of poison into the waters as well. For good measure,
he cast the spell a second time, washing the area once more. “There, that ought to do it.
Now what, Jarka?”

            
“Well, perhaps we ought to bring his body back to the tower. Someone might
recognize him, which may prove useful. If not, we have to find a way to get rid of it.”

            
“Okay, I’ll do the dirty work and teleport him back. You ought to lock the back
door. No sense in letting whoever owns this warehouse think that they have been
robbed,” Bernard suggested.

            
She grinned, “I’ll make a good thief out of you yet, Bernard.” Both chuckled at her
jest. Bernard then cast his spell and he, his dog, and the dead assassin vanished. She
collected up the items she had confiscated and headed back out the back door, locking it
after her. A moment later, she too vanished from the alley, arriving in the main first
floor meeting room of the tower.

            
Zuzanna was holding an ice pack to Zdenka’s jaw. Everyone else was tending to
Jiri, when Jarka arrived with the assassin’s things. “How are they both doing?” she
asked.

            
“Oh, my jaw hurts, but I’m okay,” Zdenka said, though it hurt to even talk this
much.

            
“Brother Jiri has taken a bad beating, but no bones are broken. I think he’ll be
alright too, but probably plenty sore for days,” Zoran answered her. Leaving him to his
wife, Zoran now turned to the dead assassin. He stared long at the man’s face. “I’ve seen
him before. I think that he is or was one of Baron’s Kazimir’s spies. Well, he won’t be
telling him about us that’s for sure. How are we going to get rid of the body?”

            
“I’ll take care of it,” the soft voice of Archmage Nadia startled them. She had
silently entered the room. “You have not yet gotten to the perfect spell to vanish a body:
move it to a position on the surface of the sun, where it will vaporize instantly. Fitting
end for a foul assassin, don’t you think?” She grinned. Zoran realized that the Archmage
was still more powerful than any of her apprentices. Quiet yes, powerful, even more so.
A minute later the body vanished from her tower. No one saw his body materialize just
above the sun’s surface and disintegrate within a split second.

            
“It looks like the Baron has sent spies into Sholov Province ahead of his attack.
One must have seen Brother Jiri leaving and followed him overland. When he entered
the tower here, for a time, he was out of his reach. Patient assassin, I’ll give him that,”
Zoran concluded.

            
“What if during his stay here, he sent back messages to the Baron, telling that
Brother Jiri came here and was staying in the Archmage’s tower,” Jarka asked, hinting at
something far sinister. “Suppose that now there are other assassins and spies of the
Baron’s around Brn? Suppose that more are on their way here, perhaps sent by the
Baron to check on what Brother Jiri is doing here?”

            
“Damn!” Karel cried out, “Sure is likely that he has!”

            
“We should never go about the city alone anymore,” Zoran concluded. “It might
not be safe. Zdenka, let your father know what has happened today. Tell him we could
use his services sooner than expected. Brother Jiri is going to need to get what he needs
for his work, but I want him to have bodyguards with him anytime he goes out of the
tower. In the meantime, some of us can escort him until Janos is ready.”

            
“Thank you all. I thought I was a goner there,” Brother Jiri said, though it was
also painful for him to talk. His face was a mass of bruises as was his chest. “I still need
some lead and charcoal.” Zoran chuckled. Beaten to a pulp, Brother Jiri was still
engrossed in his work on the Circle of Ascension.

            
“Okay, tell us what you need exactly and we’ll fetch it for you,” he replied.

            
The next week, Zoran used some of the gems donated by Warlord Mikolas to
purchase the houses on either side of the tower, paying the two families far more than
their buildings were worth. Here, he had Janos stationed with his men. At first, the new
general only had chosen two strong fighters who could handle swords well. As the weeks
went by, Janos slowly added more men to his security garrison force.

Chapter 13 Fall’s Ups and Downs

Days of study flew by the group. September brought the harvest season to Brn. Wagons
of grain and other crops arrived daily from the nearby farmer’s fields. All fields were
small and rocky, of course. Winter would soon be upon them, here high in the
mountains.

            
“Look for first snow around the start of October,” Zdenka explained to Zoran one
Sunday afternoon in late September. They were enjoying their day off, having teleported
to her homestead, deep in the Dark Forest. Already, the air was quiet chilly, and they
held each other close for warmth as they lay on the grass staring up at the multicolored
canopy above them. Reds, yellows, and browns in many hues transformed their
homestead into a marvelous sight. “I just love the trees in the fall, so many rich colors.”