The Heresy Within (52 page)

“Do you have a reason for bringing that up, Inquisitor?”

“The Inquisition has grown stagnant. Too bogged down in tradition and prejudice, unable to see power even when it is in front of them.” She looked up at the sky and took a deep breath then exhaled slowly. “A thousand years ago all the Inquisitors were as powerful as our Grand Inquisitor Vance. Now? Now he is dying remnant of the past. Too stubborn, like the rest, to realise that their time is at an end. The Inquisition isn't strong enough to stand up to the darkness that's coming, Thanquil.

“Kosh saw it as I did, how could he not, one as powerful as him could easily see the others around him were not his match. He came to me for guidance, seeking answers that he already knew but asking the wrong questions. I showed him the truth...”

“By putting a demon from the void in his body?” Again Thanquil's compulsion crashed against her will, impotent and powerless.

“I can show you the truth as well, Thanquil. I can show you what's coming. It's time to choose a side.”

“I already have.”

She laughed. “They don't even realise what they have in you, do they. They mock you, scorn you, fear you and yet you are the one that's here fighting for their survival like some sort of paragon of misguided justice.”

Thanquil drew his sword and held it in front of him, edging forwards a step. “Kosh and Kessick are both dead, Inquisitor.”

“What?” For the first time uncertainty crossed her beautiful face. “You couldn't have...”

“I didn't come back to Sarth alone.”

“Tell me, Arbiter Darkheart, once you are dead, do you think even a single one of them will believe you were anything more than a heretic? Even if you should succeed in killing me the Inquisition will kill you for it.”

“Once you're dead they'll find the proof, they'll find the contract,” Thanquil pressed for information.

Inquisitor Heron laughed. “Do you believe I'd leave such a dangerous artefact lying around, Arbiter? No. The contract is safe; I am the only person who could ever retrieve it.”

“The void,” Thanquil said.

She smiled. “Yes. The demons of the void are sworn to obey the Inquisition and I ordered them to take the contract and never speak of it to anyone but myself.”

If that was true then there was no proof. The Inquisitor was right; Thanquil would be killed by the Inquisition on suspicion of heresy even if he should win.

Then Inquisitor Heron's sword was in her hand and with a silent grin she came at him.

She watched the blood well up around the blade of the dagger; a thin red line ran down the Arbiter's skin and soaked into the silk bed linen. She needed to get dressed, put on some real clothing, and fetch the whore mistress to deal with the body.

Then I need to go check on Thanquil. He might need my help.

Jez pushed herself up onto her knees and wiped between her legs with a corner of the bed sheet.

Arbiter Kosh's eyes flicked open.

Wha...

The Arbiter's knee crashed into Jez's crotch and she realised the scream of pain was her own. Then there was a foot on her belly. Kosh grunted as he pushed and Jez found herself crashing against the far wall and dropping to the floor, winded and whimpering in pain.

“Never been through that before.” Jez looked up at his words, still gasping for air. Kosh rolled from the bed and stretched, the dagger still lodged in his chest.

It should be right through his heart

“It told me death might hurt but I never thought... who are you?” Kosh took hold of the dagger and pulled. The blade slipped out of his skin with a small squirt of blood and the wound sealed itself closed. After just a moment only a thin red line remained to prove there had been any wound at all.

Jezzet didn't answer. She gathered her legs underneath her and made ready to move.

A Blademaster without a blade...

Kosh dropped the dagger and moved towards his discarded clothing. “So? Who are you? Why did you kill me?”

As the Arbiter knelt down to take hold of one of his scythes Jez made her move. She leapt towards the small dresser, shoved her hand behind it and pulled out her sword.

“Your dagger couldn't kill me, what makes you think your...”

As Jez drew her sword from its scabbard two small slips of paper floated to the floor.

“Huh,” Kosh grunted, he was staring at her sword. It took Jez a moment to realise why. The steel blade was glowing. It wasn't much of a glow; just a slight sparkle along the metal but it was unmistakable.

Kosh snatched up one of his scythes and ran. A moment later he crashed through the window, glass, wood and all. Jezzet was already moving when she heard the thud of the Arbiter hitting the ground outside. She looked out the window to see the dead man running up the street away from the whore house. Jez looked at her sword again and she remembered Thanquil handing it to her and saying, '
You're going to need this.
'

He would have told me if he had known...

Jezzet leapt out the window and for a brief moment she was falling then she hit the ground, rolled to a stop and sent a silent thank to the Gods that the building wasn't any taller. Then she turned and started sprinting after the fleeing Arbiter.

Not for the first time in her life Jezzet was glad of having small breasts. She'd seen big women try to run and it looked a painful and dangerous affair. Fact was she'd much prefer to be fully clothed but she knew if she'd have wasted the time she'd have lost Kosh. The Arbiter was in front of her but not by much; she was quicker than him and gaining. He turned a corner and was lost from sight, two seconds later Jezzet turned the same corner and saw him again, still running. There weren't many people on the streets but those there were stared and pointed and shouted, Jezzet tried her best to ignore them all though all she wanted to do was cover herself, cover her scars.

She was just a few paces behind Kosh when he slid to a halt and span around, his scythe cutting through the air towards her. Jezzet had no time to stop; she leapt to her left, trying to avoid the razor sharp blade. The weapon's edge passed by her arm, she felt the air rush past but the blade itself missed. Jez rolled again and came up in a half crouch facing the Arbiter.

Kosh stood facing her; naked as the day he was born with only a single scythe as his protection. Jez crouched, just as naked and holding her glowing sword in one hand. All around them people stared.

“Who are you?” Kosh asked again. “Why are you trying to kill me? You're no Arbiter.”

His eyes on her made Jez's skin crawl.
You need to end this before reinforcements arrive, Jez.

She sprang at him slashing her sword at his face. The Arbiter raised his scythe and the blades sang as they clashed together. He was already moving, trying to get on Jezzet's left side, trying to get on her weak side. Jezzet was already moving too, attacking.

A high slash, a low jab, a leap to the left, feint further left then slash at the right. Each attack was blocked by singing steel. Then the Arbiter attacked. He came on hard and fast, his scythe slashing first one way then the other, Jezzet dodged each time. Dangerous things scythes; even when blocked the blade could hit you and up close they were deadly.

Kosh was muttering something as he attacked, the same way Thanquil did.
Blessings! Explains why he's so fast.
And he was fast; each attack flew at her and each one was followed by another just as quick, just as deadly. Jezzet danced and dodged, ducked and weaved, blocked and fell back but what she needed to do was attack. She didn't know much about runes but she knew the magic affecting her sword wouldn't last forever.

The blade of the scythe angled towards her head, she blocked with her sword even as she leapt to her right. The scythe crushed through her defence and passed within an inch of her neck. Jezzet found herself shaking. Again Kosh was moving, trying to get on her left side.

The Arbiter was still talking, still muttering, still saying something but his wasn't the only voice. There were others, a lot of others. Jez risked a glance and found people all around her, lots of them all standing and staring and talking and staring. Before she could stop herself she found she was covering her scars with her left arm even while trying to defend against the Arbiter with the sword in her right.

Too many people, too many eyes.
She couldn't cover the scars on her back, not even all the ones on her chest, let alone her arms and her legs and they were all staring at her. Her movements had become sluggish, slow. She blocked another attack from the scythe and staggered from the impact. The Arbiter pushed and Jez found herself falling, she landed hard on the cold stone ground and grunted in pain then rolled away just as the scythe cut through the air where her head had been a moment before. She scrambled to her feet and backed away. The Arbiter came on smiling.

He smiles like the Sword of the North; like he knows he's already won.

She still remembered everything that man had said, '
Whores fuck their way out of fights, not Blademasters. We're not chosen, not trained. We're born. Some people are born to be Blademasters, born to be the shades of death and until you let go of that fear you'll never be one of us.
'

Jezzet felt the heat rising in her. She dodged another slash from the scythe. She wasn't sure what made her more angry; that the Sword of the North had said that to her, that she hadn't done anything about it, that he was right, or that she was about to lose her life to the naked man she'd just fucked and killed.

Jez took her left hand away from her chest and gripped hold of her sword in both hands. The next attack came and she brushed it aside and answered with two lightning fast slashes of her own. Kosh blocked one and stumbled away from the other, surprise showing in his eyes. Jezzet gave him no time to recover, she pushed the attack, slashing here, jabbing there. Dodging to the side and cutting at the Arbiter, not giving him a moment to collect himself.

Kosh started whispering under his breath again. He dodged away from Jez then back in close with near inhuman speed. The scythe flew towards her face. Jezzet caught the blade on her own, twisted it and pushed. The shock on the Arbiter's face was a beautiful thing to see as he found the flats of both his own scythe and Jezzet's glowing sword pushed up against his naked chest. Jezzet shifted the grip on her sword and span away. There was a spray of blood and a scream and Kosh's scythe bounced off the stone ground, his hand still attached.

The Arbiter was clutching at the bloody stump of his right arm with his left. Jezzet danced around and thrust her sword up underneath his left armpit. She knew the exact placement of the sword, her old master had made her memorise all the vulnerable locations on a person's body. The blade slid through flesh and for the second time that night the Arbiter's heart was pierced. She gave the blade a twist and then pulled it out in a gush of wet, red blood. Kosh's body slumped to the floor and gave a final twitch.

“My name is Jezzet Vel'urn. Thanquil Darkheart sent me to kill you,” she told the corpse but it was too late.
No sense in talking to a dead man.

Jez looked down at herself, naked and spattered with blood she looked half a demon herself.
Lots of blood, none of it mine though, it's never mine.

All around her people were still watching, still whispering, still staring but she ignored them all.
Let them look, let them see what a shade of death looks like.

Men clad all in white and armed with spears surrounded her, ten of them. One of them said something but Jezzet didn't hear him, couldn't hear him over the roaring in her ears demanding for more blood. The ten men started to close in around her as one, edging their way forwards with spears lowered.

Jezzet grinned.
They think to take down a shade of death with just ten men? They should have brought an army.

Betrim staggered over to the body. He was dripping sweat despite the coolness of the evening. It weren't a bad shot, he had to congratulate himself. Head pounding, arm shaking, and a moving target but he still managed to hit it square. Fact was it were a damned good shot.

He put his foot on the Arbiter's back and reached down to pull his axe free. It had bitten deep, severed the spine by the looks of things and Betrim had to wrench to pull the thing out. Drops of blood came free with the axe and the Black Thorn felt them spatter his face.

“Best make sure ta finish ya off,” he said to the corpse as he rolled it over to get a in a clean chop at the Arbiter's neck. Betrim couldn't wait to see the look on Thanquil's face as the Black Thorn dropped Kessick's head at his feet.

The face staring back at him was young, smooth skinned with a dusting of hair on the top lip. Almost reminded Betrim of Green if truth be told. One thing was for sure though, the body was not Kessick. The Black Thorn had killed the wrong Arbiter.

A hand grabbed Betrim by the shoulder and wrenched him to his feet, a moment later a fist connected with his face turning his vision a bright, blinding white. He hit the floor still blind and scrambled away, moaning with the pain. He pushed himself to his feet just as the light began to dim and his vision returned. A man stood over the body of the dead boy, staring at Betrim with cold, icy eyes.

“Kessss.... aarrgh.” Betrim near screamed at the pain in his face. Didn't take much of a feel with his hand to realise his jaw was broken. Seemed Kessick had one hell of a punch to him. Still, the Black Thorn had suffered far worse and come out kicking. It wasn't like a broken jaw could make him any less pretty, might be it even improved his looks.

Kessick just stood there watching Betrim, no Arbiter coat, seemed he'd given it to the dead boy and had no intention of taking it back. The Black Thorn tightened his grip on his axe and made ready to attack. Kessick held no weapons but an Arbiter was never easy prey, he might have any number of magical tricks hidden away.