Mage Assassin 3 Chapter 7

I boosted myself out of the fake drainage hole and closed the lid over it. Then I crouched in the sunlight that filtered through the thick patch of shrubs I had come out in, and I pulled the object I had found on the tunnel floor out of my pocket.

I had thought it was a rough stone when I touched it in the darkness, but in the light it seemed more like a crystal. It was a shade of luminous, steely blue that wasn’t quite the same in any two places, and when I looked closely, I could see all different kinds of blue strewn through it, from a light, misty aqua color to a deep and rippling shade of cobalt. Parts of its surface were craggier than others and capped with a smoky white color.

The stone was beautiful, and it looked almost like a chunk of sea-storm that had been frozen and shrunk down small enough to hold in my hand. It was so mesmerizing that it took me several moments to notice the symbol etched into it.

The symbol was made up of two lines that arced inward from opposite sides to swirl around each other and form a sort of leaf-shaped spiral. In its very center, they joined together and formed a small, closed circle.

I didn’t recognize the symbol at all, and I still felt that I had never seen anything like the stone before.

I frowned. Who else would have access to the king’s secret passage, and why? Could it have somehow been discovered by these frustratingly evasive assassins he insisted were after him? If so, the stone and its symbol were so distinctive that I felt sure they would help me narrow things down in the process of finding out who exactly these people were.

And how the hell they’d gotten into the passage to begin with? I’d been warned before that reentering it from above would be a lethal endeavor.

Even without the possibility that the king might not have been entirely honest with me, I had a feeling that if I went to the king himself about this, it would just slow the whole process down and muddy the waters. And I had told him I’d look into things, after all.

So that’s exactly what I was going to do.

I cautiously raised my head enough to check if any people were nearby before I emerged from the shrubs that surrounded the fake drainage lid.

There was no one in sight, so I wriggled out of the shrubs and set off.

Just as I took up one of the dirt paths that connected with a network of similar trails skirting the city centre, I noticed a man walking away from the castle. He was ahead of me and slightly off to the right, and I was absolutely certain he hadn’t been there when I looked before.

There was nothing overtly out of the ordinary about his appearance from this slightly backward angle. He was tall and fit-looking, with auburn hair tied back in a low plait.

But all of this meant little to me.

It was the way he walked that grabbed my attention.

To someone without my type of training, it probably would’ve looked entirely ordinary, but I could see that he carried himself with the sort of calculated alertness I myself exercised as an assassin. Even to me, it was just barely noticeable in his stride, the way he carried his weight, even slightly angled his head. But it was enough to make me look twice.

He seemed to be in a bit of a hurry to pass over the slope of the hill ahead, and I knew that would take him out of sight of any castle guards.

I had barely completed this thought when another man came striding into view from the other side of the castle. He was slightly shorter and stockier with a mop of curly black hair, and he walked with a similarly brisk but casual-looking stride. He didn’t glance at the auburn-haired man, nor did the auburn-haired man give him any sign of acknowledgment, but they were heading in the same eastward direction.

I nonchalantly slid the king’s scroll from my pocket, unrolled it, and pretended to read while I walked roughly parallel to the man to head up the small hill in the direction of the outskirts of the city centre. I only slightly angled my direction toward them, and I kept my pace just above an ambling stroll so I wasn’t in their line of sight, but they remained in mine without requiring me to turn my head. If they looked my way, I could just be another one of the steady trickle of people who headed in this direction from the area surrounding the castle to walk the dirt paths rather than join the crowd that poured through the market stalls at this hour.

I took a casual glance back toward the castle. At almost the same moment, I saw one of the usual conspicuous-looking castle guards start to turn in the men’s direction. But right when the guard’s head swiveled around, the sun peeked out from behind the scudding clouds. It was in just the right place for a few piercing rays of light to fall into the guard’s eyes. It was so bright that he flinched and squinted, and then held a hand above his eyes to try and block the light while he continued to scan around.

Some bright but more ambient sunlight escaped the shifting clouds, and for a small time the auburn-haired man was lit up under its glow. This happened just as he was about to put a hand in his pocket, and the sun winked off of something he held. I was still close enough to see the distinct, eye-catching blue shimmer the sun casted off of what he was holding before it disappeared into the folds of his cloak.

My pulse quickened slightly. I was sure he must have been holding a stone like the one resting in my pocket. I had never seen anything with such a unique-looking cascade of swirling blue shades.

Then the clouds rolled lazily over the sun again, and the two men disappeared over the hill.

They were out of sight of the castle guards, but they would still be out in the open for a ways before they reached the forest.

If these were the assassins from Altaya, then based on what the king told me, I thought they wouldn’t pull off whatever trickery they used to vanish until they were out of people’s sight to avoid drawing attention with such an obvious display of unusual magic.

Now that they’d crossed into a hillier area, the closest place that would take them out of sight was a place several hills ahead where the forest jutted out to fill a small valley on the northeast side of the city. And this little pocket of forest was also one of the most deserted areas in the kingdom.

My thoughts raced. Following the men over the more open land like this was too risky. If the king was correct about there being five of them, then these two were likely to meet up with the others.

I had taken on more than one man at once before, but these five mysterious possible assassins seemed like a stupid risk to take just now, especially since I’d have to conspicuously cross the open land of the hills after them if I wanted to get close enough to hear anything of worth. This wasn’t my only concern, though. Even though they apparently had chosen to evade the king’s scouts so far rather than engage in a fight, I thought these men would be more likely to attack me. None of the king’s people had been able to pursue these men beyond the busy confines of the city. I, on the other hand, was a man with no backup who would be openly pursuing them into a deserted area.

Then something occurred to me.

From where I was, I could cut across to Hud if I went in a slightly different direction from the men. It made the overall distance a little longer for me, but it also would allow me to run across the flatter ground around the next hill. Not only would I be able to move more quickly without being in the mens’ sight, it would also allow me to head them off without the added fatigue that a dash up the slope would cost me.

It would also take me right up alongside the river where the water salamanders could be found.

I immediately set off at a run toward the forest.

It was an easy thing to skirt the hilly area. Despite my eagerness to quickly gain my own intel on these men, I made sure not to fly into an all-out sprint that would tire me out in case it came to a fight, but I hoped that wouldn’t happen yet. I was sure a quick ride on a water salamander would take me to the exact outcropping of forest where the men must be headed.

I kept an eye out as I ran in case any of their fellows appeared over the surrounding hills, but it seemed unlikely to me that they’d all be crossing over the hills at once. If they were being cautious, they would’ve sent some people into the forest. This meant I would still have to watch closely for any more of them cropping up when I entered it, but it wouldn’t make much sense for them to be lurking around near this part of the river, either. I thought they’d either be waiting in the forested valley or crossing through the region of the forest away from the more trafficked area of the river.

I darted into a cave-like opening in the forest between the low-hanging vines and then risked cutting through the fluttering sea of ferns once I was sure Hud wasn’t in a feisty mood. I squelched through the mud to the rare spot of still water that pooled into the shoulders of the riverbend before it narrowed. There were never more than three salamanders in this spot. Today there were only two, and I picked the healthiest looking one to mount and prod into motion.

Water sprayed everywhere as the salamander gathered its huge slimy body and lurched into the river’s rush. I insistently steered it into a narrow split in the stream and clung tightly to the massive amphibian as it sluiced through the water.

After just a few minutes of barreling through the rapids, the salamander extended its fleshy arms and legs out sideways as far as they could go. The side stream was so narrow here that the salamander was able to dig its fingers and toes further and further into the short, steep sides of the stream bed until it brought us to a halt.

This was how I knew I was in the right place. The salamanders almost always refused to go into the following area.

We were near the bottom of a steep-sided valley in the forest that the men I was tracking would have to walk into if they wanted to enter the full cover of the trees. It was also the ideal spot for me to dismount. Not far ahead, the banks of the river stretched up to form a steep gully and eventually a tall, rocky ravine that got so narrow the massive, fleshy salamander would likely get stuck in it. This was the last place where it could dig into the softer banks and change course.

I gave the salamander a grateful pat for taking me so close. Then I cast a quick look around and sprang up onto the riverbank. There wasn’t much of a path through the forest here, but the closeness of the trees and thorny undergrowth at the forest’s edge forced anyone who entered to inch down the steep slope into the pocket of the small valley. Inside, the towering trees seemed to bow over a small clearing like they were all staring down at anyone who stood in it.

I darted off to the side of this clearing and into the dark coolness of the trees. Down here, the prickly underbrush dwindled away, and spongy moss coated much of the ground. It somewhat muffled my footsteps as I crept a ways into the cover of the shadows, but I had to step carefully over the roots that snaked through and were sometimes hidden under the pillowy surface. I was thankful it was only the very beginning of autumn so the ground wasn’t coated with any crunchy leaves.

I stepped behind an especially thick, gnarled tree that was somewhat close to the clearing, but far enough that I’d be shrouded in shadow. Then I scooted some additional moss over the tangle of thick roots on its side to obscure them a little so someone might trip over them if I was pursued.

Then I turned the other way and eyed the similar roots that protruded through the steep slope that rose up high on my other side, where the valley’s slope turned into a cliff. I thought I’d be able to scramble up them like a ladder if I needed to.

Suddenly, a harsh voice rang out at the top of the hill, and I crouched silently behind my tree and wrapped my brown cloak tight around me before I gathered myself low on the ground. From here, I could peer through a gap in the rough bark.

“Fucking hell,” snarled a man. “I swear this wasn’t here before. What the fuck is wrong with this place?”

The man was clearly engaged in some sort of struggle with the forest’s undergrowth. Twigs snapped and rattled furiously for several moments. Then the man’s snarl turned into a roar, followed by a series of thuds. Each thud was punctuated with a pained-sounding grunt.

The sound got louder, and I realized the man had lost his footing and was bouncing down the steep slope toward the clearing.

“Oof! Ugh! Argh! Fuck! Shit!” the man barked with each bounce.

After another thud and a final wordless wheeze like the last of the air had been knocked out of him, the man tumbled into my view and landed flat on his face in the center of the clearing.

I immediately recognized the green tunic and cap of curly black hair of the second man I’d seen outside the castle.

He rolled over and spat out a mouthful of green moss. The sight of the trees bending over him seemed to enrage him, and I could sense he was about to loose a shout of fury.

What kind of fucking assassins were these? I had to struggle not to shake my head as I watched from the shadows, and I wondered why the man had abandoned the inconspicuousness he’d shown earlier.

The black-haired man had just inhaled deeply and opened his mouth like he was about to shake the treetops with a bellow of fury when a heavy cloak was thrown over his head from above, and his shout was muffled in the cloth. The cloak had been impaled by dozens of giant, wickedly sharp and hooked thorns, and some branches of the plants they had apparently come from.

It seemed like Hud didn’t want these men here either.

Another man appeared and stood over the fallen one. It was the first man I’d seen outside the castle. His long auburn braid swung back and forth slightly as he shook his head in the same disgusted manner I had just suppressed.

“…can’t believe she made us bring this bonehead pirate along with us,” he complained with his head turned slightly like he was talking to someone behind him.

Sure enough, a third man came into view. He was similar in height and build to the auburn-haired man, but he had a shiny bald head and a cruel mouth that tightened when he looked at the black-haired man, who had just sat up straight and ripped the cloak from over his face and growled furiously as one of the thorns clawed him.

He quieted as a fourth man entered the clearing, and then a fifth.

The one closest to me was the tallest. He had a gaunt face, and he was broad-shouldered, yet thin. He towered over the other two like a massive, hulking scarecrow, and he looked like he could stamp on the black-haired man and crush him like an ant.

The final man was slight, neat, and trim, with short brown hair and a close-cropped beard. He looked more like a man of business than an assassin, but I knew looks could be deceiving in this line of work, and he seemed to be the keenest of them, with sharp, darting eyes that didn’t stay still for long.

I stayed stone still as I watched and listened from my hiding place.

“Be silent, pirate,” commanded the brown-haired man. “Before I let Sandolf tear off your useless arms.”

“Useless?” frothed the black-haired man as he bounced to his feet. “I’m the one who found out about the bloody--”

The scarecrow-like man dealt him a lazy, backhanded blow across the jaw that knocked him back to the ground. He seemed either stunned or scared into silence.

“Thank you, Sandolf,” said the brown-haired man, but he raised a hand to keep the tall man from raining any more blows down on the black-haired one.

Then the auburn-haired man shook his head again and paced restlessly for a short distance.

“We’d might as well find a way to attack now,” he said tautly. “Thanks to this slack-handed son of a--”

“We will continue as planned,” the brown-haired man cut in. His voice was calm, smooth, and slightly reedy. “If the stone is found, likely no one will know the sign. Few know of our lady, and fewer still believe. These Ocadians think us to be senseless savages.”

“Senseless savages who just found a way into their bloody castle,” the man on the ground gloated. His chuckle choked off when the tall, gaunt man shifted his weight forward threateningly.

The others continued their conversation as if he hadn’t spoken.

“This king, though…” The brown-haired man paused and muttered something in a language I didn’t recognize before he continued. “He has his wits about him a bit more than I had thought. Perhaps--”

Then, just as he shifted deliberately to the side, the bald man skipped forward past him and into the trees directly at me.

He was shockingly light on his feet, and he danced through the trees in quick, rapid jerks like an abominable string puppet.

“Fuck!” I exhaled as I burst into motion.

The men were thrown into a sort of quiet turmoil, except for the black-haired man, who was in a loud one.

“It’s the fucking--” His voice was like the bay of a hunting hound, and it choked off again like someone had aimed another blow at his face.

I was scrambling up the side of the ravine using the tree roots like an undignified but extremely agile monkey, and when I glanced down, the bald-headed man was scaling the roots behind me. I aimed a kick down at him and felt a thrill of satisfaction as I made contact with his fleshy, egg-shaped head and then rapidly scaled the rest of the ravine.

I got to the top, and then the scarecrow-like man came at me out of nowhere.

How the hell had he beaten me up here?

I thought for one ludicrous second that a tree had ripped its roots out of the ground and was running at me, but the man was just that fucking tall.

“Hah!” His laugh came out in a sort of booming wheeze as he stretched out his hands like he was going to shove me over the edge of the ravine. He was almost ten feet away from me, but I felt a blunt force hit me like a wall that whirled and shrieked in my ears. It hit me so hard I didn’t even have a chance to stumble or catch my balance, and for a heart-stopping moment, I flew up into the empty air like a rag-doll.

Then I started to fall.

I twisted around as hard as I could while I tucked my legs in, and time seemed to slow. I realized with a stab of panic that even if I landed this, they were just going to finish me off before I had a chance to get to my feet.

Below, I saw the black-haired man move forward, like he wanted to be the one to finish me off. They were all watching me, and no one seemed to notice he had moved to be closest when I hit the ground.

Then suddenly the floor was rushing at me, and I did the only thing I could think of.

I kept my legs tucked like I was going to try a roll when I landed. I barely had time to see the black-haired man’s mouth widen into a savage grin as I hurtled toward the ground. Then as hard and fast as I could manage, I extended my legs to strike him directly in the chest with my feet.

The black-haired man shrieked for a split second when he realized what was happening, but then the breath was driven out of him in a strangled woof as I put the full force of my landing onto his falling torso.

Pain lanced up my shins, but I scrambled to my feet. Before I had even raised myself to full height, the auburn-haired man was in motion.

A blue gleam streaked through the air as he angrily lobbed his blue stone at the black-haired man, and for a second, I couldn’t tell if he wanted the idiot to take it or just felt the need to hit him with something. The black-haired man was slumped against a tree, wheezing and clutching his stomach, but he managed to catch the stone after it hit him in the chest with a thud. He coughed once more and then shot his companion a ferocious, ungrateful scowl and beetled away on his hands and knees.

The auburn-haired man didn’t skip a beat, but came flying at me in a single smooth motion. He attacked me in silence, and the only noise was his scimitar whistling toward my head. I ducked under the wide arc of his swing and brought my fist up directly into his gut. He grunted, and I ripped my knife from its sheath and aimed a savage slash at his neck.

The auburn-haired man danced backward and avoided the worst of my slash, but I saw a small red line of blood bloom under his jaw, and in the brief pause it gave me, I noticed three of his companions no longer appeared to be invested in the fight. Instead, they were standing side by side facing away from me. Each of them had a steel-blue stone held low in their right hand, and I saw them bring their hands upward in a sort of sweeping motion, and a low whistling noise sounded.

Then, before I could so much as blink, the three men were swept away into the sky, leaving total silence behind them.

What. The. Fuck?

I realized my senses were screaming at me to pay attention to my attackers who still remained. I turned to see the scarecrow-like man bring his empty hand down in a whipping motion, and a sharp, driving pain bit into the flesh of my jaw. I flinched and stumbled, and when I looked up, the scarecrow-like man towered over me with his long, ragged cloak billowing in the wind. A ghastly laugh wheezed through his lips, but seconds later, he fell silent in shock.

A low, ominous hum sounded from somewhere off to the side, and we both turned. It swelled louder and louder into a chorus of buzzing that filled my ears, but the auburn-haired man was closest to it, and he was forced to abandon his hope of jumping back into the fray when a massive, roiling black cloud of bees descended directly on his head from the trees.

He screamed in horror as the massive bees covered his body from head to toe, and even I felt a slight twinge of pity for the bastard before I took advantage of this chaotic scene and promptly leaped to my feet to slash at the other, taller man’s throat. Even when he tried to jerk back, my blade should still have bit into his flesh, but some sort of unseen force made my blade skim harmlessly through the empty air instead.

Then the bee-covered man came crashing into us.

We careened sideways, but the gaunt man regained his balance in a flash and sprang aside in an impossibly high leap. He was almost parallel to the ground as he soared through the air and then kicked off the side of a tree to come down on me, and we fell to the floor grappling. He had his massive hands wrapped around my neck, but he slackened his grip slightly when the auburn-haired man, still covered in bees, went stumbling within a few inches of him.

Then I swung my legs upward for momentum and slammed them down to leverage my torso up from the ground.

The scarecrow-like man huffed in surprise and reeled back when I headbutted him, and I slithered backward to gather my feet under me. But before I could attack, a blood curdling screech rang through the forest.

“Yyyyya!” a slender, blurred figure shrieked as it came flying at the scarecrow-like man.

He puffed in dismay at this sudden attack and stumbled a little, but he quickly regained his feet and threw off the slim figure like he was a horse irritably shaking off a fly.

The figure’s long, wild brown hair flew across her face as she was thrown through the air back the way she came, and then she bounced off the trunk of a stout tree across the clearing. When the woman fell to the ground and rolled onto her side, her hair was whipped out of her face.

It was Nara.

She was alive, but stunned, and she shifted weakly on the ground as she tried to drag herself upright.

A rush of pure, cold rage flooded my chest as I watched the woman struggle, and I barely processed my own confusion of what the fuck she was doing here. I could only see red.

The scarecrow-like man shot the witch a murderous look and raised his hand in the same whipping motion he’d used on me.

I leaped to my feet with no clear idea of what I was about to do, but I was prepared to do it, anyways.

And then the unthinkable happened.

The sound of my wordless scream was drowned out by an earsplitting series of ripping, crackling noises that seemed to come from the tall, gaunt man. It had an ominous sound that reminded me of the thousands of tiny cracking sounds an ice sheet makes before it collapses.

The man stumbled to a stop and looked down at his body in confusion as the sounds swelled louder and faster, and for a moment, he looked like he was going to vomit.

Then, with a horrendous, deafening ripping sound just like Sievni’s, he exploded.