Yendi (23 page)

"
Found her, boss. Northeast corner.
"

"
Good work.
"

I gave this information to Morrolan, who began guiding Sethra the Younger that way. The rest of us converged on the Sorceress in Green; we reached her at about the same time Morrolan did. She looked at him, looked at Sethra, then looked at us. There was, perhaps, the smallest widening of her eyes.

Morrolan said, "Sethra the Younger, Sorceress, for the next seventeen hours you are not welcome in my home. After that time, you may return." He bowed. They looked at each other, then at the rest of us. Others in the hall began to watch, sensing that something unusual was occurring.

Sethra the Younger started to say something, but stopped--the sorceress had probably told her psionically that it was pointless to argue. The two of them bowed. Sethra Lavode stepped up behind her namesake and put a hand on her arm, above the elbow. They looked at each other, but their expressions were unreadable. Then, abruptly, the Sorceress in Green was gone. Loiosh returned to my shoulder, and I looked at Aliera. Her eyes were closed in concentration. Then Sethra the Younger disappeared. Sethra Lavode left with her.

"What will she do to her?" I asked Morrolan.

He shrugged and didn't answer.

Presently Aliera spoke, her eyes still closed. "She knows I'm tracing her. If she stops to break the trace, we'll have time to catch up with her."

"She'll find the most advantageous place she can," I said.

"Yes," said Aliera.

"Let her," said Norathar.

Cawti swept her hair back with both hands just as I was adjusting my cloak. We smiled at each other, as we realized what the gestures meant. Then--"Now!" said Aliera. There was a wrenching in my bowels, and Castle Black vanished.

The first thing that hit me was the heat--an agony of flames. I started to scream, but the pain went away before I had the chance. We seemed to be standing in the heart of a fire. From somewhere off to my left I heard a dry voice say, "Quick work, Aliera." I recognized the voice as belonging to the Sorceress in Green. She continued: "You may as well dispense with your teleport block; I'm not going anywhere." It occurred to me that she must have prepared herself while teleporting, then brought us into a furnace. Apparently, Aliera had figured it out and put a protection spell around us before we had time to be incinerated.

"
You all right, Loiosh?
"

"
Fine, boss.
"

Then the flames surged around us and went out. We were in a room, about twenty feet on a side, with blackened walls. We were standing in ash that came above our ankles. The Sorceress in Green stood before us, her eyes as cold as the fires had been hot. In her hand was a plain wooden staff.

"You had best leave," she said coolly. "I am surrounded by my own people, and you can hardly do anything to me before they get here."

I glanced at Aliera.

The Sorceress in Green gestured with her staff, and the wall behind her collapsed upon itself. On the other side of it, I could see about thirty Dragaerans, all armed.

"Last chance," said the sorceress, smiling.

I coughed. "Are all Yendi so melodramatic?" I inquired. The sorceress gave a signal, and they stepped onto the ash.

Aliera gestured, and we were surrounded by flames again for a moment; then they died.

"Nice try, my dear," said the sorceress. "But I'd thought of that already."

"So I see," said Aliera. She turned to Morrolan. "Do you want her, or the troops?"

"It is your choice."

"I'll take her, then."

"Very well," said Morrolan, and drew Blackflame. I saw the faces of the men and women facing us as they realized that he was holding a Morganti blade, and one of power that, beyond doubt, none of them had encountered before. Morrolan calmly walked up to them.

"Remember," I told Cawti, "we're just here to watch." She flashed me a nervous smile.

Then there was a flicker of motion to my side, and I saw Norathar charge for the sorceress, blade swinging. Aliera hissed and leapt after her. A spell of some kind must have gone off behind me, because I heard a dull boom and smoke came billowing past. The sorceress slipped past the front line of her troops and raised her staff. Fires leapt from it toward Norathar and Aliera, but Aliera held her hand up and they fizzled out. Morrolan, Norathar, and Aliera hit the front line at the same instant. Blackwand cut a throat, swept across the chest of the next guard, and, with the same motion, buried itself high in the side of a third. Morrolan slipped to his right like a cat before anyone even struck at him, withdrawing Blackwand, then sliced open two bellies. He parried a cut and impaled the attacker's throat, then stepped back, facing full forward, slightly on his toes, blade held at head height and pointing toward his enemies. In his left hand was a long dagger. The room was filled with the sound of screams, and those who'd been watching Morrolan turned pale.

I saw three more guards at Norathar's feet. Aliera, meanwhile, was wielding her eight-foot greatsword like a toy, flipping it back and forth amid their ranks. She had accounted for five so far.

Then, incredibly, the dead guards began to stand up--even the ones slain by Black wand. I looked at the sorceress, and saw a look of profound concentration on her face.

"Hold them!" cried Aliera. She stepped back a pace, held her blade with her right hand, and stabbed the air with her left. The corpses who'd been trying to rise stopped. The sorceress gestured with her staff. They continued. Aliera stabbed the air. They stopped. They started again.

Then Aliera did something else, and the sorceress cried out as a blue glow began in front of her. After a moment it went away, but I could see perspiration rolling down her face.

Morrolan and Norathar had ignored all of this, and by now more than half of the enemy had fallen.

I spoke to Cawti out of the corner of my mouth. "Should we do something?"

"Why? They're Dragonlords; they enjoy this kind of thing. Let them do it."

"There is one thing I'm going to have to do, though. And pretty soon, it looks like."

"What?"

About then Norathar broke through the line. The sorceress cried out and swung her staff, and Norathar fell over, clutching the air.

Cawti moved before I could do anything. She got through to her friend, somehow, and knelt by her side.

The ones who'd been fighting Norathar turned to Aliera, and she had to defend herself again. I took out a pair of throwing knives and, just to test, threw them at the sorceress. Naturally, they veered away from her when they got close.

I heard Morrolan curse and saw that his left arm hung uselessly at his side, and that there was red over the black of his cloak.

Aliera was still locked in some kind of struggle with the sorceress while holding off three guards. There was a sudden flurry near her as two more of them came at her. There was an impossible tangle of metal, and three of the guards were down. Aliera was still up, but there was a knife sticking out of her low on her back, and a broadsword actually through her body, just to the right of the spine, front to back, above the waist. She seemed to be ignoring it; I guess sorcery is also good for overcoming shock. But no matter how skilled a sorceress she was, her gown was ruined.

Norathar seemed to be alive, but dazed. This, it appeared, would be the best chance I had. I drew two fighting knives, then ran forward as fast as I could through ash up to my calves. When I reached the fighters, I watched Aliera closely, then ducked under a swing. I left the knives in the stomachs of two fighters who had no ability to deal with an Easterner rolling past them; then I was beyond the line, about four feet from the sorceress. Spellbreaker was in my hand before I stood up, and I swung it in front of me. She had seen me, of course, and greeted me with a gesture of her staff. I felt a tingling in my arm. I screamed, and fell over backward.

"Vladimir!"

"
Stay there!
"

I opened my eyes and saw that the sorceress had turned away. I smoothly got to my feet, drew the Morganti dagger Morrolan had lent me, came up behind her, and brought Spellbreaker crashing down on the back of her head.

The effect on her was minimal, since she'd had some sort of shield around her; she jerked a bit and turned around. But, while the shield had prevented the chain from hitting her, the chain had brought the shield down. Before she could do anything there was the point of a Morganti dagger against her throat.

Morrolan and Aliera were dealing with the last of her defenders, but Morrolan seemed unsteady on his feet and Aliera's lips were clamped tight with the concentration of holding herself together. Cawti was helping Norathar to her feet. I didn't have much time, so I spoke quickly.

"This fight isn't any of my business, and I'll get out of the way if you give me what I want. But if you don't tell me where Laris is, I'll cut your throat--with this. And if you warn him, I'll be after you as long as I live."

She didn't even hesitate.

"He's on the top floor of a warehouse on Pier Street. Two buildings east of the corner of Pier and One-Claw, on the south side of the street."

Shows you how much loyalty you can expect from the House of the Yendi. "Thank you," I said, and backed away, still holding the dagger and Spellbreaker. She turned away from me, apparently taking me at my word. She did something that was probably putting her defenses back up. At that moment, however, Kieron's greatsword, in the hands of Aliera e'Kieron, swept the head from the last of the defenders.

Morrolan stepped forward, and a black streak came from the point of Blackwand and struck the sorceress. This, I was told later, took her defenses down again. And before she could do anything else, there was a sweep from Norathar's blade and the sorceress's staff went flying--and her right hand with it.

She cried out and dropped to her knees, and it was in that position that Norathar impaled her, directly through the chest.

There was dead silence in the room. The Sorceress in Green stared up at Norathar with a look of complete disbelief on her face. Then blood came from her mouth and she fell in a heap at the feet of the Sword of the Jhereg.

Cawti came up next to me. I nodded toward the three of them, standing around the body.

"Honor," I muttered, "in the House of the Dragon." Aliera collapsed. Cawti squeezed my arm.

We returned to Castle Black, leaving the body of the Sorceress in Green where it was. I helped myself to a large glass of brandy, which I despise, but it's stronger than wine and I didn't want to suggest Piarran Mist; somehow this didn't feel like a time to celebrate.

"She was quite an accomplished sorceress," said Aliera weakly, from the couch where the Necromancer was working on her. There were nods from around the room.

"Vlad," said Morrolan, whose arm was in a sling, "what was it that you did to her, and why?"

"She had some information I wanted," I explained. "I got it."

"And then you let her go?"

I shrugged. "You said you didn't need my help."

"I see." I noticed Cawti holding a grin behind her hand. I slipped her a wink. Morrolan asked, "What was the information?"

"Do you remember that I'm in the middle of a war? Laris was backed by her, but he still has the resources to hurt me. He's going to find out that she's dead very soon. When he does, he'll start coming after me for real--I have to make sure the war is over before he does. I figured that she knew where Laris is hiding. I hope she wasn't lying."

"I see."

Cawti turned to me. "Shall we finish it up, then?"

I snorted. "Do you think it'll be that easy?"

"Yes."

I thought about it. "You're right. It will be." I closed my eyes for a moment, just to make sure there wasn't anything I'd forgotten.

"
Kragar.
"

"
Hello, Vlad.
"

"
How's business?
"

"
A little better.
"

"
Good. Get hold of the Bitch Patrol. In exactly two and a half hours, I want a teleport
block to prevent anyone from leaving a certain warehouse.
" I told him where it was.

"
Got it, boss.
"

"
Good. In exactly one-half hour, I want the following people in the office: Shoen, Sticks,
Glowbug, Narvane, N'aal, Smiley, and Chimov.
"

"
Uh... thats all?
"

"
Don't be funny.
"

"
Have we got something, Vlad?
"

"
Yeah. We've got something. And I don't want any mistakes. This ought to be quick,
painless, and easy. So get everyone there, and make sure the sorceress you find is
competent.
"

"
Gotcha, boss.
"

The contact was broken.

Cawti and I stood up. "Well, thank you for the entertainment," I said, "but I'm afraid we have to be on our way."

Norathar bit her lip. "If there's anything I can do..." I looked at her for a moment, then I bowed low. "Thank you, Norathar, and I mean that sincerely. But no. I think, for the first time in months, everything is under control." We left them and went down to the entry way, where one of Morrolan's people teleported us back to my office. This time I made sure to warn them we were coming.

Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.

"You what?"

Now, I suppose, you expect me to tell you how I caught up with Laris after a long chase through the streets of Adrilankha, cornered him at last, how he fought like a dzur and I barely managed to kill him before he did me in. Right? Crap.

There were only two things that could have gone wrong. One, the Sorceress in Green might have lied about where Laris was, and two, she might have had time to warn him. But, in both cases, why? To the sorceress, he was merely a tool. And, since we'd discovered what they were up to, he was no longer a useful tool.

I didn't really think the Sorceress in Green had had time to warn Laris before Norathar finished her. And, if she had lied about where he was, there was no harm done. So I explained my plan to everyone in my office, which took about half an hour. I did make one point worth mentioning: "If anyone here has the idea that he can do well for himself by telling Laris about this, he can forget it. Laris had a backer; the backer is dead. Right now, we're holding nothing but flat stones, and he has nothing but round ones. So don't try to be clever."