The Sorcerer's Abyss (The Sorcerer's Path) (40 page)

He was a thief and, in Ellyssa’s opinion, one up from being a pirate. The man said he knew Azerick, but were they friends or enemies? He talked as if they were friends, but of course, he would if he wanted Ellyssa’s help. Despite her misgivings, Ellyssa had to accept that if she wanted to kill Captain Jake, she was going to need help.

“All right, I’ll help you.”

Andrill clapped his hands together and stood. “Wonderful! I knew this would be a profitable venture.”

“So when do we do this?”

“It will take a few days for me to find out where Faralynn is hiding,” Andrill explained. “She moves constantly. That is the problem with behaving in a way that makes nearly everyone want to kill you; it breeds paranoia. A few of my men will show you out,” Andrill said and gestured toward the door. “I do hope you accept my apologies, but I must insist on blindfolding you until you reach street level.”

“Fine, but don’t think for a second to bind my hands again. By the way, if you cross me, I will hunt you down and kill you just like I did those slavers,” Ellyssa warned as she stepped through the door.

Braxis looked at his boss. “I think you just made a deal with a devil.”

“Such is the way of business sometimes. We just need to make doubly sure we hold up our end of the bargain.”

Three men in drab clothing waited for her just outside the room. Most of the light within the long, stone corridor came from a few far-spaced oil lamps attached to the wall, but a faint blue light also emanated from some sort of phosphorescent lichen.

One of the men tied a silk cloth over her eyes and gently guided her by the elbow. The grating of stone on stone echoed through the dank corridor and the smell of sewage struck her like a physical blow. For a moment, Ellyssa feared she would be forced to trudge through the city’s waste, but there appeared to be a raised walkway running along the sewer tunnel.

The thieves led her through at least two miles of twisting, reeking tunnels before she heard a sewer grate lifted up. She ascended a ladder leading to the street above. Even the pervasive seaside aroma of Southport smelled sweet after traversing the sewers. She sucked in several lungfuls of air to clear out the stench.

Ellyssa blinked her eyes a few times and turned as soon as they lifted the blindfold, but the three thieves had already vanished back down the grate. The only thing she saw of them was the cover being seated back in place.

She quickly gained her bearings and headed toward Frank’s inn. She needed to have a word with him. Keeping a wary eye out for thieves, slavers, and wizards, Ellyssa navigated the streets crowded with afternoon traffic. Her stomach snarled loud enough to draw a few stares and served to remind her that she had not yet been allowed to finish a single meal today. A quick stop at a food booth fixed that.

Ellyssa stepped through the doors and locked eyes with the innkeeper. She read a bag of mixed emotions on the man’s face. She saw shame, regret, and even a little fear before he dropped his eyes. Ellyssa walked to the bar where Frank continued to polish a glass long after it was clean.

“Andrill said he wouldn’t hurt you. I’m glad he kept his word,” the innkeeper said as Ellyssa sat down.

“Me too. I wouldn’t want my death to weigh on your conscience.”

“I’m real sorry for my part in this. If I thought he was going to hurt you, I like to think I would have warned you or something.”

Ellyssa grunted an acknowledgement. “I guess it’s probably a good thing you didn’t do something stupid like that. What do you know of Andrill?”

Frank looked down at the glass he was scrubbing. “Not much. I don’t consort with those types, but if I had to do business with one, I’m glad it was Andrill.”

“So you think he’s a man of his word?” Ellyssa asked.

Frank nodded. “From what I’ve heard, as best he can. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a thief, and no thief is successful by being a nice guy. He’ll kill you quick as any man, but not without good reason. It’s more than most will give you.”

“That’s good to know. It turns out we can be of mutual use to each other. The only problem is that I have to do my part before he can do his. I have enough enemies to deal with without adding him to the list for reneging.”

Frank bit his lip and nodded. “He said you were dangerous. That was why he insisted we do it the way we did.”

“He’s right. Remember that the next time you think about betraying my trust. What do you know about a woman named Faralynn?”

“She is as bad as they come. I’d steer clear of her at any cost. Some people claim she’s insane. I think she’s just mean. I hear she has a wizard working for her too, as if she weren’t bad enough by herself.”

Ellyssa nodded, stood up, and turned toward the stairs as Frank scrubbed at an invisible speck of dirt on the glass.

“I’ll send a bath up to your room. You stink something awful.”

Ellyssa cracked a smile. “You sure know how to charm a girl, Frank.”

She enjoyed a long soak in a hot bath with a liberal additive of scented salts. Maybe the luxurious bath salts were Frank’s way of apologizing. Then again, maybe she just smelled so bad he was afraid she would drive away other customers. Still feeling the effects of her battle the previous night, as well as from the trace amounts of Andrill’s poison creeping through her veins, Ellyssa retired early that night.

She woke the next morning feeling far better than she did the previous day even before she was drugged and dragged down to the sewers. Andrill said he needed a few days to prepare, so Ellyssa decided to make some preparations of her own.

Ellyssa found a paper-wrapped bundle outside her door and knew it to be the clothes the washerwoman took yesterday. She tossed the parcel on her bed and descended the stairs to the common room. Frank gave her a nervous smile when he spotted her at the foot of the stairs.

“Breakfast?” the innkeeper asked.

“Definitely,” Ellyssa responded.

Frank disappeared into the kitchen. As soon as he vanished beyond the door, Ellyssa darted across the room and stole down the stairs next to the bar leading to the cellar. Conjuring a tiny light in the palm of her hand, Ellyssa ducked behind a large wine cask and dropped to her knees. Using a bit of magic, she lifted one of the large flagstones from the floor and set it aside.

She reached into the cavity beneath and retrieved her precious book. Setting it on the floor, she told the book to show her what she needed. It flipped open at her command and displayed the desired pages with glowing text. Ellyssa committed the words to memory, replaced the book and flagstone, and double-checked her wards keeping it safe.

Ellyssa hurried back up the steps and checked for Frank before emerging from the stairs and finding a seat at her preferred table. Frank emerged from the kitchen not a moment later with a plate heaped with food. The innkeeper had learned early in Ellyssa’s stay she possessed quite an appetite.

She finished her breakfast without leaving a bit of food for the hog trough Frank kept out back and left the inn. The sun had been up long enough for the majority of the populace to start their day, and the streets were crowded as she made the long walk to the merchant’s district.

Ellyssa found the shop she was looking for and walked through the doors. A small bell dangling above the entrance chimed to announce her. A heavyset man wearing a red vest with gold embroidery, a matching conical hat with a gold tassel on top, and a thick, black mustache greeted her as she entered.

“Welcome, pretty, young miss!” the man called out. “How can Azeel be of service to you?”

Ellyssa looked at the shelves full of glassware. “I need glass and was told you had a wide assortment.”

“Yes! My worthless son-in-law blows almost everything you see,” Azeel proclaimed with a wave. “I told him he could blow glass here or go back to Sumara without my daughter and blow sand out of his nostrils for the rest of his days. In a rare show of wisdom, he chose glass. If you do not see anything you like, I can take a custom order and have it to you within a week.”

Ellyssa picked through the shelves of glass. She did not have a week to get exactly what the book had shown, but there was enough to choose from to suit her purpose. She selected four pieces as well as some needed accessories like tubing, oil burners, and rubber stoppers.

Azeel packed the pieces in a wooden box padded with straw. Ellyssa left Azeel’s and found an herbalist’s shop a few blocks away. Buying the things she needed, she hurried back toward the inn. Only a few blocks away, a trio of men stepped in front of her as she hustled down a lesser used passage between buildings.

“What’s in the box, girl?” the largest of the three men asked.

“Nothing to interest you,” Ellyssa said bluntly. “Now clear out of my way before I make you regret it.”

The tall thin one jabbed an elbow in the big one’s ribs. “You better watch out, Hugo, she looks like a tough one.”

Hugo returned his friend’s grin. “Yeah, Carrot, she might just whoop all three of us. Maybe we should give her our money?”

“I’ll settle for you getting out of my way, but if you annoy me, I might just take it,” Ellyssa warned the thugs.

“Cute. Now gimme what you got in the box,” Hugo ordered, no longer pretending to be humorous.

Ellyssa took a step back to give her a little more space. “I’m warning you, I don’t want to have to thrash you right now.”

Ellyssa really did not want to use her magic just in case those wizards were near enough to sense her. Luckily, she was still quite a ways from the inn, so even if they did detect her residual magic later it was unlikely they could follow it back to her.

Hugo let out an annoyed sigh. “Rollie, grab the damn box.”

The dark-haired man made a half-hearted lunge. Ellyssa grabbed his outstretched arm and sent a jolt of electricity through it powerful enough to stun him and burn the flesh beneath her hand.

Hugo and Carrot froze in terror as a nightmare from years past unfolded before their eyes. A jet of flame from Ellyssa’s out flung hand set Carrot’s knit hat aflame, breaking him out of the spell he was in and sending him beating a screeching retreat.