Regret's Shadow (Sins of Earth Trilogy) (22 page)

The audience chamber of Baron Günter Van Uther was a riot of competing voices. 

Hade stood among the t
hrong that gathered before the baron’s seat of governance, shaking his head.  The man’s advisors were shouting over themselves to be heard.

“We’ve got to mak
e plans to evacuate the city!”  This from a turkey-necked stripling of a nobleman.

“You’d just cause a panic.  Mobilize the infantry to storm the wareh
ouse district, block by block.” growled the mustached commander of the watch.

“What if they catch wind of an assault and activate the device?  No, a stealth team would have a greater c
hance of success.” This came from Jericho Darkcloak, but went mostly unheard over the clamor.

Finally, the red-faced b
aron held up a meaty hand for silence.  Accustomed to the man’s authority, all the quibbling advisors grew quiet.  He stood, his barrel chest and broad shoulders clearing the way as he moved to the center of the room.

“Gentlemen,” he boomed, “you forget yourselves.” He gestured to the newly arrived party from Freehold.

“We have yet to hear from the k
ing’s own force.”

Hade looked uncomfortable.  He stepped forward.

“Ladies and gentlemen.  M’lord,” he nodded to Günter.

“I’ve been tasked by the k
ing to root out the Baroness Emberlock and her team and neutralize them.”

He looked at them all
in turn, warming to his speech.

“Much of what you’ve said is true; ideally we would try to evacuate, but in such a rushed fashion it would simply cause chaos.  I believe the Darkcloak is right,” he nodded to
Jericho, who touched the edge of his hood in acknowledgement.

“Why should w
e listen to you, Captain,” the commander asked, “I’ve never seen you before; how are we to know that your judgment is worth a damn?”

Hade stopped and turned to face him.  Ethelrynne stepped forward, but Hade reassured her with a look.

“Commander Brevin, isn’t it?” Hade asked.  The commander blinked in surprise. 

“You don’t remember, obviously, but you have seen me before.  Twenty years
ago I was just ‘recruit Hade’ in the 8
th
division and you were a drill sergeant.

“
Under your…considerate tutelage, I became a soldier.  You took special care with me, Commander.  I remember needing a heavier touch at the time.”

The c
ommander stared, searching his memory.  Frowning at his clouded memory, he waved a hand in irritation.

“Even if that’s true, I have no recollection of you, Mr. Hade.  Your information doesn’t speak to your character.”

Hade seemed about to respond, before he was cut off by a voice from the crowd.

“Hade…
Orin
Hade?” an elderly man in rich clothing stepped forward to look the captain over more closely.

“The same,” Hade replied, a small smile growing on his face.

To the surprise of nearly everyone, the nobleman fiercely embraced the soldier.

“You covered your face with that beard, threw me off guard,” the
old man said, his voice getting husky.

“I wasn’t sure I’d see you again, Orin.”

Hade patted his back, “Lord Palinor.  I meant to write.  How is she?”

Palinor
pushed him to arm’s length, eyes misty, “She’s well, Orin.  She’s still well…thanks to you.” 

With that, the nobleman
turned and presented Hade as if he were just arriving.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I can personally attest to this man’s
worth.  He saved my Ariya from drowning in the bay nearly twenty years ago now, and I’ll have words with anyone who questions his courage.”

The last was punctuated with a stern glance to Brevin.  The commander had the sense to fade into the crowd, blushing.

There were murmurs and gasps, followed by people whispering amongst themselves.  Ethelrynne looked at Hade with something like admiration, at which the soldier reddened. 

Th
e baron moved next to the two, giving Hade a bemused smile.

“Alright then,
enough of this dog and pony show.  What does my cousin have in mind?”

It was late afternoon by the time Wielder Duln had screwed up enough of his courage to kill Dramus Hiltsman.  He didn’t like the idea of murdering the innocent man, but he liked the idea of Drejth succeeding less.  He’d come this far, and felt it was the easiest route to accomplishing his mission.

The young man was bent over the device, punching numbers on a keypad, pausing now and again to pick up one of the strange tools that were arranged inside to
pull a wire here, make an adjustment there.  It was quite beyond Duln’s ken, and he had to give some grudging respect to the young monk, even as he rallied his nerve to kill him.

“You’re relieved,” he said to the guard as he entered the room.  His tone brooked no argument, and the soldier departed with a smart salute.  Dramus had stiffened at the sound of his voice, and slowly turned to face him.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Dramus said.  He was backing around the dais.  Duln frowned.

“You know why I’m here,” it wasn’
t a question.  He slid the long-bladed dirk from its sheath at his hip.  Dramus went pale.

“I’ve known since you first looked at me,” Dramus said, “I don’t know why, but your intent has been clear to my…perceptions.”

Duln nodded. 
Of course
, he thought,
the gift.  It must allow him to read into body language as well.  Interesting.  Too bad he needed to die
.

“Drejth is lying to you all,” Dramus blurted.  Wielder stopped, the hand holding the blade drooped.

“What do you mean?”

“This isn’t a mind-control device, or some artifact that will help Calistra form a rebellion.  It’s a bomb.” Dramus nearly squeaked with urgency.

“A bomb?  You mean this is a weapon?” Duln looked at the device with new interest.  He knew the man could be lying, but he wanted to hear where this lead.

“Yes!  An inconceivable weapon.  Once it’s armed, it will have the capacity to level this entire city!”

Duln looked dubious.

“I know, it sounds impossible,” Dramus continued, throwing his all into the explanation, “Drejth must have dug this thing up from the Vault of Secrets beneath the Temple.

“It shares the same symbol,” he pointed to the book and the warhead, “that was on the door to the Vault. 

“
Anyway,” he hurried, seeing Duln begin to lose patience, “this symbol means radiation, fallout…it would be as if the sun itself touched down on the city and turned it to ash.  Nothing would survive.  No one would be able to live here for a thousand years or more!”

Duln looked again at the device, “If what you’re saying is true, it’s all the more reason to kill you.”

Dramus looked frantically for an answer, “You can’t kill me.  The weapon is nearly online.  While eliminating me might delay his plan a bit, it won’t take much for Drejth to detonate the bomb.” 

He decided to go for the desperation move.

“You have to help me sabotage the whole thing,”

Duln looked as if he
smelled something foul, “What are you talking about?”

“I can disarm the bomb, make it look like it’s going to count down and explode,
and you could secret the payload out of here and someplace away from the city.  The ocean, I don’t know. 

“
It won’t do any harm on its own. It’s only when the precise conditions are met that the reaction happens to cause the detonation.”

“Well
that’s
good to know,” Emberlock’s pleased voice crashed into Dramus like a hammer blow. 

He and Duln looked simultaneously to the doorway to see her and Erick standing in the shadow
s.  The baroness entered, Erick remained shrouded.

“Wielder Duln, I had no idea,” she purred as Duln moved around unconsciously to stand beside Hiltsman.  She stopped, pulling her eldritch blade from its sheath. 

“You know what happens to those that betray me.”

Duln saw no need to hide his true intentions
.  His disgust at her recent actions boiled over.

“
Baroness,” he said, as he drew his own sword in response, “You are a vile, petty woman.  You’ve pissed away the honor of your father’s name in your quest for power.

“
Now you’ve been duped into following the murderous plans of a madman that’s been dead for a thousand years.

“
You think people will line up to follow you because it’s your right to rule?

“
You had no idea, Calistra, because you’re an idiot.”

She ran at him, sword raised.  He knew she would, and met her with his own steel.

She didn’t scream, she didn’t laugh, and it was almost more terrifying that she remained dead silent as she traded blows with the older warrior.  The clang of steel on steel was deafening in the stone chamber.

Dramus tried to press himself into the bricks of the wall.  As the two combatants battled through the room, he began to slide toward the exit. 

There were a few exchanges that came uncomfortably close, and he was forced to duck or lose his head to a sword slash, or dive to avoid being run through.  Finally his fingers found the lip of the doorway, and he managed to slip around the corner.

He came face to face with a sallow, leering Erick.

“Going somewhere?” the thing giggled.  Dramus drew back in alarm, but not before it shot out its claw-like hands and grabbed his arms.

“Let me go,” Dramus cried.
The Erick-thing began to slowly shove him back into the room.  Dramus was shocked at its strength.  Behind him, Calistra and Duln were locked in mortal combat.

“I’m going to enjo
y watching you die, Duln,” the baroness breathed, her face inches away from Wielder’s, their blades crossed between them.

“You should get used to disappointment,” he quipped, sounding less confident than the comment would suggest.  He was tiring badly, and she was a canny enough fighter to use his
age and his eyesight against him.

The b
aroness laughed as she saw, out of the corner of her eye, Dramus being herded back into the room.  She could tell Duln was tiring, and she decided to press the attack.  She drew a dagger with her left hand, and went at him with both weapons.

Duln tried to keep the device between them, even though
t of cleaving the conical thing in two.  But, if what Dramus had said was true, he might set the thing off. 

He was going to lose.  Calistra would kill him.

Rather than die in vain, he did the only thing he could think of to foil her plan: pivoted and he stabbed Erick.

The possessed monk folded like a sack of flour, and Duln watched in satisfaction as Dramus seized the opportunity to escape.  It was a momentary triumph, as the glowing green blade of Calistra’s sword shot out of his chest, coloring the stones around him in a sickly emerald light.

He choked as she twisted the blade, drawing close to him as she did so.

“Traitors burn in hell, Duln,” she hissed in his ear.

He turned to set his eye upon her, “Then I’ll see you there, bitch.”  He began to chuckle; a wet, gurgling sound that turned to a scream as she wrenched the blade violently.  Suddenly he went still, and knew no more.

Hade and his team arrived at the deserted warehouse district shortly before dusk. 

The setting sun painted the city in soft hues as shadows lengthened.  People were heading home or to the pub, eager to be off the street before nightfall.  There was an expectant hush in the air.

The alleys were clear, a gift from the baron’s agents in the underworld, and their rabble-rousers.  The Old Badger had been at the meeting in the palace, and he’d agreed to go along with Hade’s plan.  He saw to it that no one would be wandering the district, fouling up any chance of surprise.

The group huddled in a small widening of an alley, caused by the irregular shape of one of the warehouses. 

There were nine in the band: Hade and Ethelrynne, the Darkcloak and Reynolt, as well as five of Tavister’s hand-picked soldiers.  Osric’s apprentices were ordered to remain hovering nearby, but out of sight, awaiting a signal to get the group out should things go poorly.

Hade looked at each of their fac
es, feeling his guts going cold.

“Alright.  In case you didn’t hear it in the meeting, I have a unique knowledge of this area. 

“When I was fouling things up as a recruit, Brevin used to send me into the sewers in this district to clean up the ‘pest problem’, as he called it.

“The tunnels were often used by smugglers and thieves, and I had my fair share of skirmishes in the stink. 

“The point is,” he hurried, “I know there are tunnels far beneath these buildings that could be a perfect staging point for any number of clandestine activities.  Most of them have been sealed off from the rest of the city, so Calistra could do as she pleased without fear of discovery.”

Jericho
spoke up, “That’s all well and good, but do you have a map, or are we just guessing?”

Hade frowned, “We’re guessing.”

He held up his hand, “But, with the location of the warehouse you saw those Lockhaven men go into, I think I have a pretty good idea of where she’s holed-up.”

He began to draw in the mud of the alley with a stick, “Th
at warehouse is two blocks away; here.” He stabbed. 

“
There was an old crypt that was used by a sect of Zuthian priests here,” again, he pointed.  He drew lines between the structures to a third box in the dirt.

“Just on the other side of this building behind me is a warehouse that has access to the sewer tunnels.  If Calistra has set up in the crypts, as I think is
most likely, we can come at her from a ‘back door’ if you will.  She shouldn’t be expecting an attack, so we can hit her hard and fast.”

He paused, looking at the group.  No one had anything to say.  They all knew the score.  There could be a hundred men or more down there, or there could be five.  The only way to know
for sure was to go down in and see.

“Well, let’s find this bitch and ruin her party,” said Ethelrynne.

Everyone gaped.  She smiled as she straightened, nocking an arrow to her bow.  The others began to ready their weapons, a few chuckled quietly, smirking at the tension-breaking comment.

Hade smiled at her, drawing his sword.  At least they would be together. 

He felt like they could take on anything and beat the odds.  He supposed it was his infatuation that buoyed his spirits, but wasn’t willing to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Dispelling the last of his doubts, he
began to stalk around the building, keeping to the shadows, while his team followed after on cat’s feet.