The Sword and the Chain Read online

  "Not mine. Not really; I just passed through it once. But it is pretty. And not occupied, as far as I was able to tell. At least, not as of a few years ago. It's just too far away from any civilization; if anyone wanted to settle there, he'd have to travel for ten, twenty days to get to the nearest cleric. And since it's in Therranj, it'd be a bitch for humans to do business. Damn elves'll take you, every time."

  "But people could live there."

  "Sure." The little man shrugged. "Like I said, if they were willing to do without civilized necessities. I'm—"

  "Making far too much noise," a voice hissed, from somewhere in the darkness.

  Karl leaped to his feet, his sword in one hand, the manriki-gusari in the other.

  Walter Slovotsky chuckled as he stepped from the shadows. "Relax. It's just your friendly neighborhood thief."

  Karl quelled an urge to hit him. Dammit, he had asked Walter, more than once, not to sneak up on him. And Walter was usually good about it.

  Just nerves, I guess. "How are they set up?"

  Slovotsky squatted and picked up a twig. "This is the wagon," he said, making an X on the ground.

  "The road runs here." He drew a gentle arc to the left of the X.

  "Campfire here, on our side of the wagon; throws light on our side of the road. Chak, there are four of them, no?"

  "Yes."

  "Well, I could only see three. One's on watch on top of the wagon, a bottle of wine and a cocked crossbow to keep him company. There's a huge one sleeping on our side of the fire—he's got a bow, which isn't cocked." Slovotsky shrugged. "But he's sleeping with his sword in his hand. The third one's in a hammock strung up here, between two trees."

  He spat on the ground. "Couldn't find the fourth. He could be out in the brush relieving himself, but if he is, he's either got the runs or is constipated as hell. I gave him plenty of time to show up; no sign."

  "Maybe he's in the wagon?"

  Walter shrugged. "Could be."

  Chak shook his head. "They don't sleep in the wagons. Too dangerous. And if one of them was with the women, you would have heard. They don't use gags. But I wouldn't worry about it; they've only got the two bows, and we've accounted for those. As soon as the fight starts, the fourth one will pop up, and we'll cut him down."

  "So?" Walter asked. "How do we do it?"

  Karl stood. "We'll play it as we did with Ohlmin and his friends, with a bit of the way we handled Deighton thrown in. Conceal yourself close to the wagon—close enough to be sure you can get the watchman with your knife—and wait. Chak and I will work ourselves in, as close as we can. Give us plenty of time to get into position, then start things off by throwing a knife, taking the watchman out. That'll be the signal for Chak and me."

  "Fine," Walter said. "But we don't know what their watch schedule is. What if they switch off before we get there?"

  "Good point. If all they do is change places, don't worry about it; just take out whichever one is on the wagon. On the other hand, if the crossbow moves from the wagon, or if the slaver by the fire cocks his bow, we'll need to know that before we take them. If that happens, just slip away; when enough time has passed and Chak and I haven't heard anything, we'll head back here, rethink the attack, and try again."

  He turned to Chak. "You kill the one in the hammock. I'll take the one by the fire."

  The little man nodded. "Should be easy. What do I do after?"

  "Just grab one of their bows, see if you can find the fourth one. Or help me, if I'm in trouble."

  "Walter, when you take the watchman out, try for the chest—but any good disable is fine. Don't expose yourself to go in for the kill; as soon as you get the watchman, look for the fourth man."

  He clapped a hand to Walter's shoulder. "Remember, football hero, you're free safety. We've got to be damn sure we get them all; if one of the bastards escapes, we're in deep trouble. We don't need for word to get back to Pandathaway that I'm still alive."

  Walter's mouth quirked into a smile. "Bloodthirsty, aren't we?"

  "You got any goddam objection?"

  "That wasn't an accusation. I did say we, after all."

  Chapter Four

  On the Aeryk Road

  Those who know how to win are far more numerous than those who know how to make proper use of their victories.

  —Polybius

  Walter Slovotsky crouched in the tall grasses surrounding a huge oak, his belly hugging the ground, one of his four teak-handled throwing knives in his right hand. His palm concealed the blade; a reflection from the steel could alert his target, twenty yards away.

  Beyond the boxy slave wagon with the sleepy-eyed guard sitting cross-legged on its flat roof, the campfire burned an orange rift into the night. From where he lay, Walter couldn't see beyond the wagon to where Karl and Chak were—

  —should be, he reminded himself. Should be. They were supposed to have moved silently into place by now, but Walter had long ago learned that things didn't go the way they should around Karl. Not that things always went badly, just differently.

  Too bloody much of the time.

  He slipped his thumb along the cool slickness of the blade and decided to wait just a few more minutes, to make sure they had gotten to the right places.

  This had to work just right.

  If it didn't, the fact that Karl was still alive would soon be common knowledge, even if a surviving slaver caught only a glimpse of him. No other men six and a half feet tall made a habit of taking on slavers on the trade routes of the Eren regions. Come to think of it, no shorter men got into that habit; the Pandathaway guilds had long made that an ill-advised profession to get into.

  So why the hell am I in this? Not because of some eleven-year-old girl I've never even laid eyes on.

  It was because of goddam Karl Cullinane. As usual. Walter could have tolerated knowing that somewhere, some little girl was being mistreated, even raped. People were being mistreated everywhere; cutting the number by one or two wasn't going to change that.

  You had to take the long view. Maybe there was a way to change things, but it couldn't happen overnight. Risking everything for a moment's gratification just didn't make any sense at all.

  He sighed. Goddam Karl Cullinane. So why did I agree to this? If I had just shrugged and dismissed it, he'd have looked at me as if I were a piece of shit.

  And was that such a big deal? Was Karl Cullinane's opinion so important?

  Yes. Ahira was Walter's best friend, and Karl had worked out a way to bring Ahira out of the grave. That counted for something.

  That counted for a lot.

  And Karl's growth over the past months counted for more. When they had arrived on This Side, Karl had been a directionless flake; Walter had watched him grow, seen him strip away his shield of not caring, of choosing not to understand others, not to commit himself.

  It all added up to respect. The simple fact was that Walter respected Karl, and wanted to receive the same in turn from him. Walter Slovotsky had always been respected by everyone whose opinion he cared about, and he wasn't about to learn how to live without that.

  He shook himself. If I don't pay attention to what's going on, I may have to learn how to live with a bunch of crossbow bolts in me. He rubbed at a slim scar that curved around the left side of his collarbone. A knife had left that as a remembrance of Lundeyll; it hadn't been any fun at all. One of his own knives, and it had cost quite a bit to get it replaced in Pandathaway. In fact—

  Enough. It was time to stop stalling, and get it done.

  One way or the other.

  He set the knife down with the bulk of the oak's trunk between it and the view of the watchman, and raised himself on his toes and fingertips, inching slowly, silently into the cover of the tree. Aim for the chest, Karl had said. Very well; the chest it would be.

  Picking up the knife between the thumb and first two fingers of his right hand, he stood and moved quickly to his right. Raising the knife to shoulder level, he threw, then dove for
the cover of the grasses.

  With a flicker of steel, the knife tumbled end over end through the night air.

  The guard must have seen the sudden movement; with a grunt, he jerked back and to the side. The knife's hilt caught him a glancing blow in the left arm, then fell away in the dark.

  "Datharrrrti!" the guard called out as he reached for his crossbow and jumped to his feet. Raiders!

  Oh, shit. Karl had said to hide in the shadows, but he hadn't been counting on this. With a functioning cross-bowman on the roof of the wagon, the fight would be over before it began.

  The bowman, a blocky little man, leveled his crossbow at Walter.

  Ignoring the rustle of branches overhead, Walter broke into a staggered sprint, snatching another of his knives from his belt and throwing it, still on the run. At least it might distract the bowman for a second or two.

  With a meaty thunk, the knife sank into the watchman's thigh. His leg crumpled; he fell to the roof, a sound halfway between a scream and a groan issuing from his lips. Clapping his hands to his leg, he dropped the crossbow.

  Walter reached the side of the wagon. Without a pause, he grasped the edge of its roof and pulled himself up.

  Below, steel clashed against steel. Karl fought with the gigantic swordsman who had been sleeping next to the campfire. Swords flashed in the firelight; screams and shouts filled the air.

  Groaning, the watchman pulled the knife from his thigh, rose to his knees, and lunged at Walter, stabbing downward.

  Walter caught the descending arm with both hands, stopping the razor-sharp point just inches from his left eye. A clout to the side of his head set the world spinning, but he held on as they rolled around the rough wood.

  The watchman's free hand clawed at Walter's throat; the rough fingers fastened on his windpipe. Walter tried to drag air into his lungs as they struggled face to face, gasping as he drew in the foul reek of wine on the other's breath.

  Inexorably, the knife moved toward his face, the point seeking his left eye, as if on its own volition.

  Walter pushed against the knife arm. The blade's progress slowed; the point stopped four inches from his eye.

  His hands started to tremble. The point moved closer. Three inches away, then two, then—

  With a heave, Walter lurched on top of the slaver, driving his knee into the open wound on the other's thigh.

  The watchman screamed; his fingers loosened from Walter's throat. Just for a moment, the watchman's right arm lost its strength.

  Walter didn't wait for him to recover; he twisted the knife arm behind the watchman's back and up, past the hammerlock position, until he felt a sickening, wet pop as the arm separated from the shoulder socket, the knife falling from the slaver's limp fingers.

  The slaver whimpered; feebly, he kicked at Walter, trying to slide away on his belly.

  With one smooth motion, Walter snatched up the knife and stabbed downward into the other's kidney. He pulled the knife out and stabbed again, and again, and again, as the blood poured from the slaver's wounds.

  With a muffled scream, the slaver twitched, then fell still.

  Walter's stomach rebelled; he fell to his hands and knees, sour vomit spewing from his mouth. Wiping his mouth with a bloody hand, he willed his body back under control.

  Below, Cullinane sliced down at his huge opponent's swordarm; as the other parried, Karl whipped the manriki-gusari around the slaver's blade and jerked, sending both the manriki-gusari and his enemy's sword flipping end over end into the night. He lunged in full extension; his blade slid into the slaver's throat, almost to the hilt. Blood fountained as Karl kicked the slaver off his blade; the giant gave a bubbling groan and fell face down onto the campfire.

  As he lay there motionless, the fire hissed, sending up clouds of smoke and steam. A reek of scorched flesh reached Walter's nostrils. He gagged, but quelled the urge to vomit again.

  "Walter," Karl shouted, "are you okay?"

  Walter nodded.

  Chak walked slowly into the dwindling firelight, his falchion dripping with blood. "Mine's taken care of. But where's Orhmyst?"

  Walter vaulted to the ground, letting his knees give to absorb the shock. "We've got to find him. Quickly! If he gets away—"

  "I know, dammit. I know." Karl looked from side to side, his face a snarling rictus. "Chak, you go that way, I'll—"

  He stopped, lowering the point of his sword.

  Cullinane smiled. He scanned the ground for a moment, then walked over to the fire and picked up a water bucket and a soft cloth. Ignoring the body that lay smoldering in the ashes, he dipped the cloth in the water and started washing his hands. "There's another cloth here—clean yourself up. You can use it."

  What was this nonsense? This wasn't any time to relax. "Karl—"

  "I wouldn't worry about the fourth man," Karl said, cleaning, then resheathing his sword. "Wouldn't worry about him at all."

  A distant flapping of leathery wings sounded from the direction of the road. "Although," Cullinane went on, "next time, I wish you'd look a bit more closely; Orhmyst was sleeping in a hammock slung way up high in that oak tree." He pointed at the tree Walter had hidden under. "When the alarm sounded, he lit out."

  A dark, massive bulk came into view overhead; the wind whipped up dust and burning embers from the campfire.

  Chak shouted and dove for the concealment of the woods.

  *Relax, Walter.* Ellegon hovered overhead. *I don't think Orhmyst will be talking to anyone. And would you tell your friend that I'm harmless? Please?* He landed on the ground with a thump, then lowered his massive head so that Karl could reach up and pat it.

  Karl's laugh sounded forced as he scratched vigorously against the dragon's jaw. "Only relatively."

  *True.* Ellegon burped.

  "What are you doing around here, anyway?"

  *I told you I'd do better this time. And Ahira figured you might get into trouble; he sent me out to check the road from the sanctuary to Metreyll. When I didn't spot you, I started checking this road.*

  Walter nodded, then knelt over the water bucket, looking away from the body sprawled over the coals. He splashed water on his face; the sudden cold helped quell the last traces of his nausea.

  "That was nice timing, Ellegon," he said.

  A clattering from inside the wagon jerked his head around. "Karl, what say we free some people?"

  Karl shot a glance toward the woods. "Chak, it's safe. You can come out now."

  No answer.

  *Don't worry; he'll come out when he calms down.* Then, accusingly: *You didn't tell him about me, did you?*

  "Well, no. It didn't exactly come up. I wasn't thinking ahead."

  Not thinking ahead. That was Karl, all over. In fact—

  Ohmygod. "Karl—we're going to free these people, no?"

  Cullinane cocked his head, puzzled. "Of course. That's the purpose of the exercise, after all. What—"

  "Bear with me a minute." A cold wind sent a shiver up his spine. "There's fifteen, sixteen slaves in the wagon, right?"

  "Not slaves anymore." Cullinane stooped to pick up his manriki-gusari, then twirled it easily. "Not anymore."

  "And, I assume, some of them will want to join up with us. At least for a while."

  Cullinane nodded as he pulled the smoldering body of the dead slaver from the campfire. He dragged him a few feet onto the bare dirt before riffling through his pouch. "Gin," he said, dangling a brass keyring. "And you're right, but so what? We've got enough food."

  "And some might not want to come with us. They might want to go home."

  "So what?"

  "So," Walter said, impatient, "we give them some coin, maybe a horse if we can spare one, and wave as they go on their merry way. Right?"

  "Right." He lifted his head and raised his voice. "Stand easy in there," he said in Erendra. "You will be free in a moment."

  "Dammit, Karl, listen to me. What happens when they start talking about the nice, big man who—teamed with a drago
n, of all things—took on a bunch of Pandathaway slavers, and then freed them? Word gets back to Pandathaway, somebody puts two and two together, and—"

  Cullinane's face went ashen. "And the hunters are on our tails again."

  Including Andy-Andy's rather pretty one, which isn't going to be all that mobile in a few months. I care about her, too, Karl. "Exactly what we've been trying to avoid. So what do we do?"

  Karl Cullinane drew himself up straight. "We free them. Period."

  Walter shrugged. "Fine. And what do we do about the aftermath?" Karl, if you aren't scared shitless, you don't understand the situation.

  "We work it out. Somehow. Just like we work out what to do with that Metreyll armsman." He started toward the wagon, then caught himself. "Of course." As he turned back to face Walter, his face was creased in a huge smile. "Did you ever study economics?"

  "No." What the hell did that have to do with anything?

  "I did. For a while." A mischievous grin replaced the friendly smile. "And economics is, my dear friend, the answer."

  "Well?"

  "I'll tell you later. C'mon, we've got some locks to unlock, some chains to break. I think I'm going to enjoy this. You coming?"

  "Sure." Why not? Besides freeing them, the only choice was to leave them as slaves, and Cullinane wouldn't accept that.

  Probably have to cut their tongues out, as well. And I wouldn't stand for that.

  So I might as well get what pleasure I can out of this; sure as anything I'm going to be in front of the blades when the shit hits the fan.

  As they walked toward the wagon, Karl threw an arm around Walter's shoulder. "You know, there are times when I enjoy this profession. A lot." A half-shudder went through Cullinane's body, but his smile remained intact. Understandable. It was one thing for Karl to feign shrugging off his revulsion for violence, but another matter to truly take bloodletting for granted. The day you can kill without any twinge of conscience, Karl, is the day I want to get as far away from you as I can. "You've really got a solution?"

  "The solution, Walter." Cullinane smiled. "By the way, in case I didn't mention it, you did just fine. If the watchman had been able to use his bow, all three of us would have been in deep trouble. The rest of it doesn't matter." With a sniff, he dismissed Walter's vomiting as irrelevant.