Chasing the Dragon Read online

  "No quarter," Alto growled.

  Garrick was off like an arrow shot from a bow. He ran down the hall towards the door but had to leap to the side when a man lunged at him from the second open doorway on his right. He crashed into a narrow table along the far wall and staggered, barely managing to twist and swat aside a second strike from the Stalker that attacked him.

  Alto and the others rushed down the passage but there was only room enough for one to fight at a time. Two more hired killers emerged from the first open doorway. Unlike Alto, they stood side by side and faced him. Their practiced movements showed they were trained in fighting side by side.

  Alto slowed for a heartbeat and then he remembered he had no shield and only a chain shirt. He drove his feet into the rug on the floor and charged into them, swinging across with his sword at the man on his right. The assassin lifted his sword and ducked low so he could drive Alto's strike over his head.

  The power behind the warrior's strike and the magic in his sword knocked the tulwar down into the assassin's head. Alto's sword did bounce off it then, coming around and forcing the second man to leap back from his own foiled attack. Alto turned to follow through when an arrow pierced the Stalker's head and made him crumple to the ground.

  Alto looked down at the two dead men and then up at where Garrick was wrenching his sword out of the chest of the man who had attacked him. Mordrim howled and charged past him, looking for another opponent. When none presented themselves, the dwarf kept going and tucked his head down before he crashed into the barred door at the end of the hall.

  The door had been shut and barred; it wasn't built to withstand more than three hundred pounds of dwarf and armor moving at a full charge. Mordrim rolled into the room and lay stunned from the impact.

  Garrick stepped in quickly, brandishing his great sword and looking for a fresh target. Alto entered a moment later after Garrick cleared the entryway and moved towards the man who had seen them.

  The room resembled a small meeting hall or conference room, with a single door in the middle of the far wall. Four men were gathered, two holding swords and the other two holding daggers. Garrick swung his sword to keep the man with a dagger back and tried to advance on the cloaked man. His curved blade licked out, narrowly missing the agile barbarian.

  Alto rushed in and leapt over Mordrim as the dwarf picked up his helm and righted himself. The leader of the company crashed into the nearest Stalker and left him on the ground and bleeding from a gash that had cleaved the ribs on his side. The other Stalker abandoned his plans to help fight Garrick and turned back to face Alto. He flicked his dagger out in lightning fast strikes that fell short of their mark.

  Alto growled and circled around the man. He kicked out, sending the sword from the man he'd wounded skittering across the floor. The man groaned and collapsed, his hands going to the ghastly wound in his side.

  Alto continued to circle until the man's back was to the door. He heard the sound of bone cracking and saw the man's eyes roll up into his head. He collapsed, revealing Mordrim standing with a feral grin on his face and his hammer in his hand.

  They both turned in time to see Patrina's armor stop a thrust to her breast from the poisoned dagger that the assassin wielded. She grabbed his wrist with one hand and wrenched it up, and then used her other to bring her axe up into his belly at an angle. Air burst out of his mouth and he staggered back, pulling free of her hand and blade. He reached down to cover the mortal wound and stare at it. By the time he thought to look up again, he saw Patrina's axe coming down in a two-handed arc that struck where his shoulder met his neck. She had to put her foot on his chest after he'd fallen to wrench her axe free.

  She turned and saw everyone watching her. Garrick had killed his man and he grinned at Patrina. Alto nodded and turned to the door in the wall. "Mordrim?" he asked.

  The dwarf sighed and adjusted his helmet. He lowered his head but looked up abruptly when they heard a scream, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. Before they could get over their surprise, the door opened. What they saw only made their jaws drop farther.

  Chapter 18

  Bruised and bloody, a shirtless Namitus stood in the doorway and stared at them. He held one of the assassin's daggers in one hand and stared at them.

  "Namitus!" Patrina squealed. She ran forward and threw her arms around him. The rogue grimaced and let out a groan, prompting her to step back and look at him. "Oh! You've been hurt. Are you okay?"

  Alto stared at his love and shook his head, trying to understand how she could go from noticing he was hurt to asking if he was okay in the same breath. He walked up to his friend and peered past him. A Stalker lay on the ground next to a chair. Ropes hung from the chair.

  "What happened?" Alto asked him.

  "I asked too many questions. Wrong people got wind and caught me," Namitus said while holding a discolored spot on his side. Patrina reached up and tried to wipe the fresh blood that dripped from a tear near his eye. More blood gathered at the cut and slid down his cheek, making it a pointless task.

  "But they didn't kill you," Alto said.

  Patrina turned to stare at him.

  "That's good!" Alto stammered. "I didn't mean it that way. I just wondered why, that's all."

  "I didn't stop to ask," Namitus said. He shrugged his shoulders and winced at the pain the movement caused him. "They'd just started asking me questions about you guys. Wanted to know where you were from and what kind of people you were."

  "Just started? You've been gone for a day," Patrina frowned.

  He nodded. "They spent time softening me up first—thought it would make me talk more."

  "Did you tell them anything?" Alto asked.

  "What is there to tell? Nothing they wouldn't already know. It's not like I'd know anything special, right? You're not hiding anything. are you?"

  Alto shook his head. "Of course not. You know that." The warrior looked at the room again. "Where are your things?"

  "Gone," Namitus said. "They took them. I don't know where."

  "How did you get free?" Garrick asked as he peered over Alto's head into the room.

  Namitus nodded back at the man lying behind him. "Been working on the ropes since they put them on me. He came to untie me or kill me, I don't know which. I jumped up and surprised him. Stole his dagger and then gave it back to him, if you know what I mean."

  Garrick grinned. "Good job."

  Namitus returned the smile, and then winced and reached up to touch his split lip. He turned and spat out blood on the floor and shook his head.

  "I can heal you," Karthor offered.

  Namitus shook his head. "Save your energy. Nothing's broke and these are just flesh wounds. I'll be fine. Just my pride that's hurt. Can you heal that?"

  Karthor chuckled. "I've heard it said that pride goes before the fall."

  "I'm here to say the opposite. I definitely fell first."

  The others chuckled and welcomed the rogue with nods and gentle slaps on the shoulder and back. Patrina met Alto's gaze and he could see the excitement on her face. "I can't believe how lucky we got!"

  Alto nodded. All those ladders and tunnels and they happened to pick the right one. Was it just luck, or had something been guiding him? He glanced at the sword at his side and wondered.

  "So now what?" Namitus asked. "I found out firsthand more than I ever wanted to about the Stalkers. Nothing useful, though."

  "Kar is trying to find some information for us," Patrina told him. "Alto got Jakar to spill something about Havara and Myskakroth."

  Namitus's eyes flicked to Alto. "What does that mean?"

  "I hoped you might know."

  He shook his head. "Havara is the name of the mountains east of here, but I've never heard of a place called Myskakroth. How did you get him to talk?"

  "Same way the Stalkers tried to get you to talk," Alto said.

  Namitus grimaced. "Sounds like you were better than they were."

  "I have more motivat
ion," Alto said.

  Namitus smirked and then glanced around at the carnage. He walked over to one of the dead men and picked up a fallen sword. "We should go. I heard a lot of people coming and going. I think this is an important building to them."

  "Sorry about your scimitar," Alto said.

  Namitus looked at him and blinked. "Why?"

  Alto frowned. "Sorry that it's gone. It was a good blade."

  Namitus shrugged. "A sword's a sword."

  "Yes, but that one had magic to it."

  The rogue frowned. "So it did. But this one feels good in my hand. It will do. For now."

  "Your pipes!" Patrina gasped. "Those are gone too?"

  Namitus nodded. "I'm lucky to have pants and boots."

  "We're bound for the Kraken," Alto said. "You can get your other clothes there. Should we go back to the tunnels or the streets?"

  "The streets," Namitus counseled. "More people and hopefully less of them ready to stick a knife in our backs."

  "It's late. Won't people be asleep?" Garrick asked.

  Mordrim snorted but it was Namitus who answered. "This city never sleeps. There's always something going on."

  "Get us out of here then," Alto bade him. "Maybe we can even pick up a shirt for you on the way there."

  "It does get cold at night," Namitus agreed. He walked around the others and moved back to the hallway. Seeing nothing but the bodies of the fallen, he motioned them on and led them through the large house, back down to the door in the kitchen that led to an alley.

  He stepped out into the alley and stopped. "Uh oh," he muttered.

  Alto looked out the door and saw men wearing dark clothing approaching from the left. The Stalkers saw them and stopped, surprised. Their surprise only lasted a moment before they drew their swords.

  Alto pushed past Namitus and drew his blade. Namitus stumbled out of the way, giving Patrina and the others a chance to spill into the alley. Outnumbered, the Stalkers glanced at each other and then turned and ran.

  "After them!" Alto growled and gave chase. In moments, Garrick pulled even beside him and he saw the flash of Patrina's armor out of the corner of his other eye. The two men rounded the corner into a main street and split up. The crowd was light but they ran through the people, trying, and mostly succeeding, to create confusion.

  "I can't see to aim," Carson growled, surprising Alto. He turned his head and saw the ranger had his bow ready with an arrow nocked even as they ran.

  The people of Mira cried out when they saw them running with weapons drawn. Shouts were raised and spread down the street quickly. In the chaos, the two Stalkers escaped. Alto cursed and sheathed his sword, signaling his friends to do the same. He turned and looked behind him. Namitus and Karthor strode up to them.

  "This way," Namitus hissed as he kept walking.

  They followed him until he turned abruptly and ducked into a darker side street that was little more than an alley. Alto wondered why until he saw a group of guards scanning the crowd ahead of them. He turned and followed the rogue, trusting he remembered the city well enough to get them through.

  "Keep your wits about you," Namitus warned over his shoulder. "This alley used to be an entrance into the Shadows."

  "Used to be?" Alto asked.

  The rogue nodded. "It's been a long time since I was here. A lot of people knew about it. They might have closed it."

  "Or not," Carson said as two men stepped out from the darkness near the end of the alley. Just beyond them, another side street offered escape. Carson raised his bow and fitted his arrow to the string.

  "You shouldn't let the fire burn," Patrina muttered.

  "It's only two men," Garrick scoffed.

  "Look up," Patrina counseled.

  They did as she bade and saw men standing on either side in windows with bows aimed down at them. Alto looked behind them, thinking he might call on the city guards for assistance. Instead he saw a wagon being pulled across the entrance to the alley, blocking entrance or exit in that direction.

  Alto scowled and looked to Namitus. He found the rogue looking back at him, his eyes wide. "They'll take us alive," Namitus hissed. "Or at least they did me before. Surrender and we can try to escape."

  Patrina snorted and lifted her axe into both hands. Alto caught her gaze and nodded. "We won't surrender," Alto said.

  Namitus shook his head. "We'll be killed," he insisted.

  More men climbed from shadows ahead of them, joining their brothers and facing them. "He's right," one of them called out. "Thrown down your weapons."

  "I got the archer behind me on my right," Garrick breathed loud enough for them to hear.

  Alto turned and saw that the large warrior had his great sword in one hand and his hand axe in his other. "Carson?" Alto asked.

  "I'll take the other three," he promised.

  "All three?"

  "Well, not at once," he admitted. "I've got the bow. They'll probably aim for me."

  "That's not very reassuring," Alto said.

  "I'll keep the men on the ground busy," Mordrim growled.

  "There's six of them," Karthor pointed out.

  "They taught math in that church, did they?" Mordrim responded.

  "Enough! Surrender or die," the man demanded.

  "Death it is," Alto said.

  Garrick raised his hand axe and threw it, and then turned and ran after the dwarf, who was already pounding the ground. Carson's first arrow struck the archer high on the chest, piercing him just under his clavicle. It fouled his shot and made him fall back into the room away from the window. The other two loosed their arrows, only to have them both strike the ground where Carson had already leapt away from.

  Alto, Patrina, and Karthor charged the men ahead of them. Namitus let out a curse and followed at a slower pace, limping as he ran. Two more men climbed from trap doors at the base of the buildings as they passed by, stopping Namitus and forcing him to face them with the tulwar he'd taken.

  The battle was brief, with steel striking steel and then smacking wetly into flesh. Mordrim was left fussing over a dent to his armor from a sword strike while Patrina turned at the sound of a curse and saw Namitus being backed up by the two men. She started towards him to help when Alto grabbed her shoulder.

  "He needs help!" Patrina hissed. "He's hurt—see how he's moving?"

  Alto nodded. "Why isn't he fighting with dagger and sword?" he wondered aloud.

  "He's not used to that sword," she said.

  Alto nodded and watched as Carson moved behind Namitus, and sent an arrow into a window just as the fourth archer stepped back into it to fire. He fell away, pierced through the throat by the ranger's shot. Carson continued to circle and tried to find an angle to help Namitus without risking the rest of them in the background.

  Alto scowled and ran forward. Namitus was taking too long. The hero of the north thrust his sword into the back of one of the Stalkers, distracting the other one and causing him to turn on Alto. He lunged forward before Alto could free his blade from the ribs of the man he'd killed, jabbing his sword into Alto's side hard enough to dig the point of his blade against Alto's skin through the chain links.

  Alto slapped the sword aside, gouging more of his flesh in the process. He swung his sword up and over and had to jerk his head to the side to avoid an upwards thrust from the assassin's tulwar.

  His sword crashed down at an angle on the killer's shoulder, cutting him only a little with the edge but slapping hard with the flat of the blade. The man grunted from the impact and staggered back a step, giving Alto a chance to grab his arm and tug him off balance and spin him around. Alto shoved his sword up and in through the man's side, and then pushed him off the blade and watched him fall to the ground.

  "Poison on those blades?" Alto asked Namitus.

  The rogue glanced at the sword and then his own. He shook his head. "Just their daggers."

  "Alto!" Patrina hissed. "Come on!"

  Carson, Namitus, and Alto jogged over to meet them.
Carson held out Garrick's hand axe for the man to reclaim. The street ahead was lit with light streaming out from taverns and houses but the foot traffic was lighter. "Back to the Kraken," Alto said. He reached down to his side and pulled his hand away to see it had blood smeared on it.

  "You're hurt!" Patrina cried out.

  Alto shook his head. "Just a scratch. Not poisoned either," he reassured her.

  She frowned but finally took her eyes away from the dark spot spreading on the tunic under his chain shirt.

  "Should have worn your plate," Mordrim muttered.

  "Ship. Now," Alto reminded them. "Namitus, lead the way."

  The rogue sheathed his sword and slipped ahead of them. He looked up and down the street and then stepped out into it and led them down the road to the north. At the next cross street, they saw several people milling around outside of a building. They stared at it and talked to each other while Namitus led them through the crowd.

  "Is there a fire?"

  "Someone said they smelled smoke."

  "It'd serve him right if it burned down!"

  When they were clear, Mordrim chuckled and shook his head. "Must be this was where we were at," the dwarf guessed at the snippets of conversation they'd heard in the crowd.

  "You put the fire in the tunnels out, right?" Patrina asked.

  "We did," Carson insisted.

  "You started a fire in the Shadows?" Namitus asked.

  "It was an accident," Alto said, his eyes darting to a blushing Carson. "And we put it out."

  The rogue shook his head. "You're going to get me killed yet," he muttered. "Come on."

  He turned down another street and stopped abruptly. A group of guards was approaching them. Namitus glanced back and then turned. "Come on, hurry!"

  The rogue took off at a jog across the street to a shop with a ship's helm on their sign. The guards cried out, forcing Alto and the others to catch up to him after he ducked into the building. They slammed the door shut and looked up at a surprised clerk who was straightening some coils or rope.

  "Can I help you?" he asked, his eyes narrowing as he took in their rough appearance.