Sourcethief (Book 3) (55 page)

Brannis knew he had to come up with something
different. Rakashi had figured him out already—that much was clear. The stream
bank had a clear view of the crescent moon, giving Brannis all the light he had
to work with, but it gave Rakashi uneven footing to use as obstacles. Brannis
was the prey now; he fled for the forest.

Rakashi struck at his legs, but his armor persisted
in turning the blows aside, and Rakashi was unable to trip him up. Brannis
gained the tree line and found himself in a deeper darkness, but surrounded by
obstacles that would hinder Rakashi as well, along with enough dry brush and
fallen leaves to track his foe by sound.

Rakashi followed him in, stabbing at the back of his
armor. Brannis could feel the blows, but none harmed him. Brannis whirled and
tried to catch Rakashi off guard with the Takalish warrior's momentum still
toward Brannis. He caught air instead of a Takalishman, with a stray tree as collateral
damage. Brannis ducked and raised an arm to ward off the falling trunk, unable
to see which way it was falling. The only thing he felt was a slash to his arm.

"Why?" Brannis asked between breaths.
"Why are you doing this? You could have lied. You could have made an
excuse."

"I detest lying," Rakashi answered.
"But not all truths need be spoken. You have a right of vengeance, even if
I was a soldier, acting on orders in a war."

"Right," Brannis replied. "It just
happened to be you. Did you trick Soria into telling you how to fight
Iridan?"

"Yes," Rakashi admitted. "Just as I
tricked you into attacking me, so I did not have to break my word to her. I
like you Brannis, but I need to kill you."

"Why?" Brannis asked again.
Maybe I can
reason with him. Maybe I can delay him long enough for Soria to hear that
falling tree and come to see what happened.

"You must know this: Rashan forces my hand. I
kill you to save my people; that is the price he demands."

"What? No!"

"Yes," Rakashi insisted. "Your life,
or all of Safschan. Even on the chance he is lying, I have to try. But he is
the one who truly wants you dead, not I."

Brannis growled and rushed Rakashi once more. He
heard by voice where he was, and had caught a bit of silhouette to confirm.
That was all he needed, and Brannis was off at a run. Rakashi dodged between
trees and bolted for the stream once more. Brannis was once more the pursuer.
He plowed trees out of his way with Avalanche, trying anything to gain ground
on the fleeter fighter.

But Rakashi beat him to the stream. Brannis was
close behind, edging for the one step that would put Avalanche within reach of
the traitor. Rakashi made to cross the stream, leaping from rock to rock in
full stride. Brannis followed on his heels.

Brannis slipped.

He did not fall immediately, but caught his balance
awkwardly on the last rock of the crossing, flailing his arms to keep from
plunging into the water.

Rakashi noticed this and halted his flight. The
Takalish warrior spun, half-spear gripped by the end in one hand, swinging it
about in a great arc. Brannis heard a grating metallic sound, but felt nothing.
He regained his balance, and stepped across to the far bank.

Something in the motion sent a searing pain across
his stomach. He collapsed to the ground, falling to his side. Avalanche hung in
the air, unwielded. Brannis's first thought was that he was unarmed, with a
deadly foe at hand. His second was that it was likely too late already.

He rolled to face the moonlight, and looked down at
his stomach. Blood was seeping out through a rent in his armor, which was
struggling to seal itself closed once more, the enchanted quicksilver damaged,
but not beyond repair. Brannis wished he could say the same.

"If you want vengeance," Rakashi said,
"I will understand. Of course, none is more deserving of your vengeance
than Rashan Solaran, the one who decreed your death."

Rakashi lifted his half-spear overhead, ready to
drive the blade through Brannis's weakened armor.

"No!" the shriek of an anguished heart
cried out.

Rakashi twitched his blade to the side as a runed
dagger flew at him with the force of a musket shot. The dagger glanced to the
side, but another followed it. Taken from one of the dead brigands, it bore no
runes. It shone like coal dust in the aether. Rakashi's one eye saw it, but he
could not deflect it cleanly. The second dagger caught him hard in the
shoulder, spraying blood before disappearing into the night.

Rakashi set himself once more to strike, but he had
not the time. Soria was on him in an instant, never having stopped her onrush
to throw her daggers. Rakashi was beset, working his blade in a fury to keep
Soria at bay.

"Soria, please do not make me—"

"Make you hurt me? You may as well have just
killed me, you lying son of a whore!" Soria gave no ground, pressing
Rakashi backward into the uneven stream. Rakashi parried her blows like he
would a sword, flashes at impact showing her shielding spell protecting her
from his runed blade.

"Let me explain. We do not have to do
this," Rakashi said.

Soria paused in her futile attempt to break through
Rakashi's expert defenses with her bare hands. She hopped, turned back, and
grabbed Avalanche from where it hung.

"Soria, no!" Rakashi's eye went wide, and
he turned to run.

Brannis was no match for Rakashi in a foot race.
Soria, on the other hand, Rakashi had no hope of escaping. Sped by aether and
her Tezuan training to use it, she caught Rakashi after only a few steps. He
turned, and tried to dodge the blow, but like its namesake, there was nothing
that could stop an Avalanche that had you dead in its path. Rakashi's
half-spear was driven down and through its owner as Soria cleaved him in half.

She stood over him just a moment, the moment it took
for the fact of his death to register in her mind.

"Brannis!" she shouted, and ran to his
side. Avalanche she let hang in the air near its latest victim. She looked down
and saw the blood on Brannis's stomach. "How bad is it?"

"Bad. I don't know how bad."

Soria helped him off with his helm and enough of his
armor to get the breastplate free. The sight beneath sent a chill through her.
She was far from squeamish, but she knew the portent of dark blood pooling.

"So?" Brannis asked. He was nauseous with
pain, but hoped for news that could offer comfort.

"I just killed the one who could answer best,
but it's bad. I've got nothing for you to bite on, so just bear with me and
hold still," Soria said. Brannis did not like the sound of that, but
closed his eyes and braced himself. He squeezed his fists tight and held them
well away from his wound.

A searing pain blazed across his stomach as Soria
pinched the gash closed and sealed it with a bit of hurled fire. Brannis
screamed, but it was over in just seconds. He moaned at the lingering agony of
the burn. Soria tore a sleeve off her tunic and began dressing the wound.

"I don't know how much that buys us, but some
at least," Soria said.

Brannis closed his eyes and lay back.

"Don't you leave me, Brannis," Soria said.
Eyes closed, he could still hear the tears in her voice.

"Going to get help, s'alright." Brannis
tried to smile.

"I hope you have a plan ..." Soria
whispered.

"Tiiba ..." Brannis managed to say.

"Already working on that. I can be in two
places at once, you know."

* * * * * * *
*

Emerald eyes snapped open in the darkness. Aether-attuned,
they sought a pair of daggers, and snatched them free of their harness on the
floor by the bedside. Bare feet set down on the floor; they would have stomped
had they not realized the pressing need for silence.

Even without enough aether to hold itself aloft, the
Starlit Marauder
was awash in runes to the point where it was as
navigable in the aether as it was in the light. It also meant the walls were
nearly as opaque. Kyrus would have been visible through the walls, but not
Tiiba. Juliana held Freedom and Adventure ready in hand as she opened the door
of her cabin.

As she emerged, she saw the door to Tiiba's quarters
open as well. Juliana cast a quick light spell in the hope of catching him off
guard. Instead, all she got was a clear look at a furious Safschan
blade-priest.

"What have you done?" Tiiba shouted at
her. "You
killed
me!"

"Only once," Juliana replied, holding her
daggers at the ready. She swallowed back a lump in her throat. Tiiba was a more
formidable fighter than Rakashi, in full command of the aether.

"This is your fault, all of it," Tiiba
shouted at her, rune-blade bared in Juliana's direction. "You insisted on
keeping Brannis ignorant. Well ... Rashan is
not
dead, and I am!"

"You murdering liar! You swore you—"

"He attacked me," Tiiba shouted over her.

"You tricked him, Tiiba," Juliana screamed
at him. "No politician's tricks here, you started that fight and you know
it!"

"I had never thought to harm you, but I ... I
... I cannot live with being slaughtered by the likes of you."

"The
likes
of me?" Juliana asked at
the top of her lungs.

"Weak, slovenly, arrogant, undisciplined. You
always got by being the twinborn with the Source too strong for her
world."

"We'll see about that, won't we, blade-priest.
I plan to bury these blades in that honorless stone of a heart you've
got."

"A heart of stone? Me? The only reason I didn't
kill Brannis in his sleep was honor. The only reason I waited was because you
swore you would get him to kill Rashan, so that my people would be safe. I was
not willing to chance their fate on a lie."

Juliana flipped Adventure over in her hand, taking
an up-and-down pairing of the blades. Tiiba recognized it as a signal that she
was prepared to fight.

Tiiba rushed at her, taking advantage of the
rune-blade's reach in the cramped corridor and using it as a spear. Juliana
gave no ground, using her blades to deflect the rune-blade's tip, time and
again. She took a step forward, forcing Tiiba back to maintain his reach on
her. The rune-blade was versatile, but was limited by the confined space.
Juliana had no worry of slashes, blade reverses, kick sweeps, or many of the
other tricks she had seen Rakashi use with a half-spear.

A wind blew, though they felt nothing of the gentle
air across their faces. The ship did though, and shifted beneath their feet.
Tiiba steadied himself against the wall, taking one hand from his blade.
Juliana turned her shoulder and fell roughly against it. When the wind passed,
Tiiba spared a glance over his shoulder—an oddity for him, since she knew he
could see behind himself in the aether—and made his way for the stairs.

"Where do you think you're going?" Juliana
shouted after him, letting him have a pace on her before following, in case he
turned on her.

"To cut us loose," came the reply from
above.

"You're insane, you'll drop the ship and us
with it," Juliana said. She was confident she could survive the fall, less
confident that Tiiba would, and not the least bit certain that the ship would
be anything more than splinters.

"I am a dead man, do you not understand?"
Tiiba said, sounding more rational than any part of their shouted argument had
been. "At any moment, Kyrus will arrive to save you. I will die a pig's
death, roasted on a spit. Brannis's anger was a floundering, helpless thing;
Kyrus will—"

"He's not coming," Juliana interrupted.
"I told him I would handle this."

Tiiba turned his attention from the safety lines
that secured the
Starlit Marauder
to its oaken berth, and back fully to
Juliana. The deck was set at a slight angle, but there was room for that mighty
rune-blade of his to work through all its tricks. Tiiba stalked across the
deck, straight for her.

Juliana was not the fighter that Soria was, but she
was by far the sorceress.

A bolt of pure aether shot forth from Juliana,
catching Tiiba by surprise. He tried to bring his blade to deflect the blast,
but reacted too late. It slammed against Tiiba's shielding spell, driving him
back, stumbling. Tiiba fell hard against the ship's rail, but kept hold of his
rune-blade.

"How did you kill Iridan if you can't even
handle
my
magic?" Juliana taunted. She was already drawing, waiting
until she had more aether contained before she unleashed her next attack.

"You helped me kill him. You told me he panics
and loses control. I made him panic."

"Got a plan for how to kill me?" Juliana
asked. Tiiba pulled himself off the railing and approached, keeping his blade
ready in a defensive posture.

Tiiba was ready with his blade when Juliana's next
spell came for him. Black lightning sparked forth, caught on Tiiba's
rune-blade, and clawed along its length, striking him despite a perfectly
aligned defense. Smoke arose from his tunic sleeves, and Tiiba grunted in pain.