Chasing the Dragon (16 page)

The smuggler's eyes widened for a moment,
and then his lips curled into a smile. "I was right," he said. "I knew nobody would want to be smuggled upstream."

Alto frowned, at a loss for the man's odd reaction. "You're going to cooperate?"
he asked.

"No, we're going to kill you. I just needed to know. Call it tying up loose ends." No sooner had he spoken
than the shadows moved and men wearing dark clothing emerged.

"That's convenient," Patrina muttered as more than a dozen men surrounded them.

"How's that?" Alto asked.

"Some of them have Stalker rings
—saves us the trouble of hunting them down."

Alto nodded and drew his sword. "So it does," he agreed. His friends drew their weapons and waited.

"Mind the poison," Alto called out.

"Don't worry about it," Patrina said
loud enough for everyone to hear. Even their enemies. "I've got the cure that witch gave me."

A few of the thugs glanced at
one another, their focus disrupted by her words. Alto leapt forward, his sword flashing through the air and bouncing off the short curved sword of the gray-eyed man. Alto's opponent cursed and leapt back, his sword clattering to the floor from the force of Alto's strike.

Garrick and Carson leapt out as well, taking their cue from Alto and attacking. Garrick's mighty sword powered through his opponent's defenses while Carson
drove two men back, one with each blade, and kicked out at a third to put him on the defensive. His next strikes killed the man in front of him and gave him time to dance around the other two and keep the assassins off balance.

Karthor struck aside an attack from an assassin and had to jump back to avoid another one. Mordrim twisted and cracked Karthor's second attacker's spine with his hammer
, hard enough to snap it and drop him to the ground. The priest kept going and broke the arm of a rogue who tried to stab Mordrim in the back, and then he reversed his swing and felt the satisfying crunch of his mace ruining the man's face.

Patrina used her axe with short and controlled swings that kept the two rogues attacking her at bay. A hearty shout preceded Mordrim crashing into the both of them and bearing them to the floor under his heavy plate armor. Patrina let her axe fall on one as he scrambled free of the thrashing dwarf.

The gray-eyed man drew a dagger from his waist and lunged at Alto. Alto shifted and took the strike on his chain-covered belly, and then he drove his fist into the man's jaw and knocked him back. He staggered a step and shook his head, only to have Alto's sword come across with the edge turned so that the flat of the blade smashed into his head and dropped him to the ground like a rock.

Alto turned as another killer came at him and slipped to the side of the short blade that was thrust at him. He hacked the man's arm off and followed after him as he stumbled back. Alto grabbed him by the throat and yanked him forward, unsettling him. He punched out, never letting go, and knocked the man to his back. Alto's sword fell on him, silencing his grunts and gasps.

The warrior turned back around and saw that only a few of the killers were still standing. Garrick had two of them backing up as he swung his heavy sword like it was a toothpick. Carson was toying with his opponent, batting the man's sword back and forth between his blades before he kicked up and knocked it free from the man's hands. The assassin grabbed for it in the air and received the pointy end of two swords in his chest for the effort.

Mordrim rose up and stared at the blood beneath him. He dropped a metal
-clad elbow on his face to make sure and then picked up his hammer from the floor and stood up. He snorted, spat on the dead man and turned to look at the others. "Bah! We killed them all?"

"Not all," Alto said. He went over to the
gray-eyed man, sheathing his sword as he went. He grabbed the unconscious man and dragged him over near a corner where some crates blocked them from the rest of the warehouse. He nodded at the doors and said, "Guard the doors."

Carson, Garrick, and Mordrim each went to a door to stand ready. Karthor and Patrina joined Alto and stared at the wounded man. Blood slowly ran down the side of his face from where the blow to his head
had torn his scalp.

Alto slapped the man hard but only succeeded in rocking his head to the side. "Wake him up," Alto demanded.

Karthor frowned. "I don't suspect Leander will approve of using his boon to torture people."

Alto turned to look at him. He nodded and said, "Let him decide
. I accept the responsibility for this."

"It's not that simple," Karthor explained. "I am His messenger. I must act in ways that I believe are in Saint Leander's best interests. My interests must be the same, and I'm troubled by the path you are taking."

"Karthor," Patrina interrupted. "I don't know what happened before but I have been a member of a royal family my entire life. I have seen my father and uncle make decisions that were questionable. Questions that hurt people and challenged their beliefs. They made those decisions because they had to. Because in order to fight evil, they had to be evil."

"It is a treacherous road you tread," Karthor said.

"I'm aware of that," Alto told him.

"Aware of it, yes, but does it scare you?"

Alto smirked. "You forget, I have argued with Saint Jarook. I know my fears, and I know that no matter what I may do, it will pale in comparison to what these people are capable of."

Karthor frowned and nodded. "I love you as a brother, Alto. You may not be afraid but I am. For you. I have looked in your eyes and seen a darkness.
Take care that you remember that in your quest to rid the world of this evil that you do not create a new evil in its place."

Alto weighed the priest's words and nodded. "That is counsel I would be wise to take. Stay at my side and never fear to speak plainly to me. There are times
when I suspect I might need it."

Karthor nodded and turned to the unconscious man. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before beginning his chant and pressing his glowing icon of Leander to the man's forehead. The man snorted and jerked,
and then scrambled to get away from Karthor and his glowing pendant.

Alto was there to stop him from escaping. He knelt down next to the man and produced a ring he'd taken from one of the dead men. He twisted it and popped out the needle,
and then held it up between the two of them. "You know what this is?"

The man glanced at it and then nodded. Alto saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. "I was stabbed with one of these the other day. It didn't kill me, but I'm told that's unusual. Do you think you'd be so lucky?"

The man stared at him. Alto brought it closer to his face and then stopped. "I made you a deal earlier. A deal you weren't interested in. Are you now?"

His eyes shifted, glancing at Alto's companions and then trying to see beyond them. By moving him into a corner
, Alto had taken away his ability to see the rest of the warehouse.

"They're all dead. Your friends, I mean. My friends killed them. And none of my people were hurt. These are the men
who fought against giants and ogres. These are the men who helped to kill a dragon. Did you really think you stood a chance?"

"I heard those were lies," he mumbled.

Alto reached down and drew his sword. He moved it close to the man so that a green tint began to radiate from the steel. "This is the sword that killed Sarya," Alto said. "It glows green, the color of Saint Jarook, when it senses fear. Are you afraid?"

The man's eyes widened. He stared at the sword and then at Alto. "What do you want to know?"

"Are you a Stalker or just a lackey?"

He shook his head quickly. "Just a go
-between, a messenger."

"Some of the dead were
?"

He nodded. "There's a contract out for you."

Alto frowned. He glanced at Patrina and received a nod of support from her. He turned back to the man. "I'm putting out a contract on them. Every Stalker killed earns a bounty from me."

The man gasped. "Who are you?"

"I'm Alto," Alto stated as though it should have been obvious.

"And I'm Lady Patrina, Princess of Holgasford," Patrina said. "My realm endorses this bounty."

"How do I find them?" Alto asked. "The Stalkers have my friend and I'm going to get him back. Where is he?"

"They'll kill me!"

"I'll kill you," Alto promised.

"You might as well," the man said.

Alto drew his sword back, calling his bluff. Patrina stepped up and put her hand on his shoulder. "Alto, wait." She turned to the doomed man. "As much as it disgusts me to do so, I can protect you. Head to our ship and you will be kept safe."

His eyes narrowed. "Why should I trust you
? I tried to kill you."

Patrina turned
and pointed at Karthor. "This man healed you. Do you see his amulet? He serves Leander, the patron saint of honesty. Leander wouldn't grant him magic to use on you if we lied."

"Besides," Alto added. "What do you have to lose?"

He looked at the three of them and then closed his eyes. "Your friend is Namitus?"

Alto stiffened. "You know him?"

"In passing. I ran the streets when he was here years past. I heard he'd returned and that he was asking questions about the Stalkers and the Order, then I stopped hearing about him."

Alto shifted to kneel on his other knee. "Do you know where he is?"

"No, but behind some crates, you can open one of the crates and go into a tunnel that will take you into the Shadows."

"Where next?"

He shook his head. "Anywhere. The Stalkers run thick in the River District. There are secret passages to nearly every building. Not even the owners of the buildings know of them in most cases."

"That's not very helpful," Alto pointed out.

"It's all I can give you."

"All you can, or all you will?"

"All I have. The Stalkers are here, under our feet. The leaders of the Shadows are farther north and east."

"You mentioned the Order of the Dragon
. What do you know of them?" Alto asked.

He shook his head. "Almost nothing. They worship dragons, it's said. I've heard some of the nobles are involved, but I've never seen anything myself. It's an old religion, isn't it? All but gone?"

"By the time I'm done with them, they'll be gone," Alto promised. He rose up and stared down at the man. "I should kill you, but a promise is a promise. Find the
Kraken
and tell the captain, Taldar, that we sent you. Make sure he puts you to work."

"Taldar?"

"You know him?" Patrina asked.

He
hesitated and then shook his head. "No, I've heard the name, that's all."

"What have you heard?" Alto demanded.

The man's eyes danced about as he tried to remember what he'd heard. "Something in passing about delivering a payment to a man of the same name. It may be nothing. There are many men with that name."

Alto and Patrina shared a glance. "No doubt," Alto said. Patrina hesitated and then nodded.

"Very well, be on your way. Hurry, I expect word will travel fast when we breach the Shadows."

His cheeks paled. He struggled to his feet and nodded. "Uh, thanks," he offered,
and then turned and moved away.

"Garrick, let him go," Alto told the barbarian. "We're headed the other way."

"Other way?" Mordrim asked as he and Garrick rejoined them.

Alto offered a humorless grin. "You'll be happy, Mordrim
. We're going underground."

"Underground? What's under Mira?" the dwarf asked.

"The Shadows."

Chapter 16

Ketten split away from the paladins once they reached Highpeak. He walked his horse through town, heading straight for the south gate and the lands beyond. Aleena turned to Celos once the mountain man was out of earshot and sighed. "That was the longest two days of my life!"

Celos frowned. "Why?"

"Why? Because I wanted to talk to you!"

Celos raised an eyebrow. "You did talk to me."

"No, not about Queen Rosalyn."

The paladin snorted. "We'll see about that."

"What do you mean? She's right
; there is no realm in the mountains. If the creatures of the mountains accept her as their ruler, then she is."

The paladin was silent for a long moment as they walked towards the baron's estate. "I don't like her," he finally admitted. "Her story doesn't add up. How does a woman become the ruler of a land of savages
who prefer to raid and pillage? At first sight of her, they would think only of taking her prisoner and—"