El-Vador's Travels (24 page)

The
fool boy eventually rose and limped off across the roof and away from
him, looking back as if to see whether he would be followed or not.

'Get
out of here!' Anacletus yelled at him, 'Stupid child.'

With
that the boy was gone, limping across the rooftops at a speed that
belied the injury Anacletus' boot had given him.

So
much for the roof being a safe hiding place then, Anacletus thought
to himself. Not only had he been interrupted by a servant of Sarvacts
intent on finding the previous automaton, he had also been troubled
by the local vermin.

Ensuring
that the heirloom was still in his possession, Anacletus made his way
down from the roof and into the early morning bustle of the city.

As
the foreigner left the rooftop, the boy eased his way from behind a
wall. A smile touched his features and there were no tears in sight,
he had found the man he had been tasked with looking for and could
now report back to his masters. There was no snivelling or limping on
the boy's part now as he glided toward the alleyway to impart his
information for vital coin.

Out
of the dusty gloom came a blind beggar in rags, who cocked his head
as if waiting for the boy to speak.

'I
have news for the spy master,' the boy whispered into the alleyway.
'Tell him that servants of Sarvacts have decided to penetrate his
walls, and that an Elf has entered the city, possibly also in the
service of Sarvacts judging from the company he keeps.'

'The
spy master will not be pleased to hear of this encroachment,' the
beggar replied.

The
boy nodded. 'The swifter this news is brought to him the less likely
he is to take it out on you.'

The
beggar grunted back at him in acknowledgement and shuffled off into
the alleyway.

Anacletus
had little time to waste, he needed to exit this city and make a
suitable amount of tracks for the Elf and his followers to read. Ones
that would not be muddied by the comings and goings of the
inhabitants of this city.

It
was as he was preparing to make his way to the southern city gates
that he felt a sense of being watched.

Though
it was not a magical talent in particular, the sense he had
cultivated over the years of work had yet to let him down, something
was out there and it had an eye on him and him alone. Even in this
crowded area where any number of people could be watching him, he
wasn't going to discount the feeling. He slowly looked about him,
trying to determine who it was that had taken an interest in his
activities.

After taking some time to survey the scene, he spotted a shopkeeper
that kept flicking his eyes toward him when he thought that Anacletus
wasn't looking. The man made a fine effort at serving his early
morning customers but there was no denying that he had more than half
an eye on Anacletus' activities. True, this could mean absolutely
nothing, perhaps the man was scouting out a potential customer for
all he knew. He doubted that such a naïve explanation was the
truth.

He
had never seen this particular shopkeeper before, having never been
in this city prior to now. Why would anyone take an interest in what
he was doing? Perhaps there existed some unseen network of observers
that gazed at every movement within the city. Why then had he not
felt this before?

Anacletus
shook his head, perhaps he was imagining things after all.

The
shopkeeper continued to watch him.

A
thud woke El-Vador instantly, Eihblin and Phaedra already had weapons
drawn. He leapt out of the bed and readied his own blade, something
was trying to get into their room.

The
door splintered open and the man behind it trudged inside, his eyes
directed straight at Phaedra's as if the other occupants were of no
consequence.

'You
have disobeyed Sarvacts for the last time, you must come with me.' he
made a beckoning motion with his pale hand and to El-Vador's
surprise, Phaedra started to walk slowly toward him.

'Phaedra?'
Eihblin asked, wondering much as El-Vador did why she was walking
toward this man.

'I
am compelled against my will,' she said, 'you must stop him!'

That
was all the invitation El-Vador required, thrusting his sword at the
man's heart.

Only
now there were two men facing the Elf, his sword passed between them
both and ineffectually struck the wall.

'Eihblin,
take left, I'll go right.' he said, remembering his companion and
sincerely hoping she wouldn't turn on him a second time when things
got heated. She advanced to his side, seemingly to aid him now that
there were no easy escapes from this conflict.

'They
have no weapons,' El-Vador said, moving closer to the creatures.

'They
probably weren't expecting me to have company.' Phaedra observed,
holding back due to the lack of space.

It
was the sound of the woman's voice that finally stirred his foes into
action, they seemed to ignore Eihblin and advance upon El-Vador.

In
response he bounded forward, swinging his blade at them and hoping to
force their retreat.

Eihblin
joined him in the assault and it appeared to work, these servants of
Sarvacts had not expected an armed response and had come poorly
equipped for such a fight.

The
first opponent dove in with surprising quickness, bypassing
El-Vador's sword and aiming a chop for his head. The Elf narrowly
evaded the pale hand and thrust out again with his sword in response.
The thing kicked at El-Vador's knee and leaped back before the point
of the steel impaled it. These creatures were faster than he had
expected, they may not have weaponry but perhaps they did not need it
in this encounter after all.

Looking
to prove that thought wrong, El-Vador emulated Eihblin and slashed
forward with his blade in an arc that couldn't be evaded. He had no
time to check on how his companion was faring against the twin image
of this creature but if she had space and time to trade such blows
she couldn't be doing too badly.

As
agile as his enemy may have been, it was impossible to avoid the cut
El-Vador had made with his weapon. It brought up an arm and tried to
deflect the stroke but to no avail, the steel was sharp and sheared
through the arm, bone and all.

Ignoring
the disembodied limb flying from his shoulder, it charged directly
inside El-Vador's defences and levelled its head at him, careening
directly into him and sending them both spilling to the floor.

The
impact dazed the Elf briefly, but not as much as his foe had hoped.
He had held on to his blade and twisted on the floor, sending it deep
into the creature's midriff and through its heart, assuming it had
one.

As
the thing stilled on the floor, El-Vador rose to a crouch and slipped
his sword clear, looking for an opening in the frantic melee that the
other battle had created.

The
second attacker had managed to evade the majority of Eihblin's
attacks, though from the looks of things the few that had got through
had left considerable marks.

He
sensed the opening then, springing forward and impaling the thing on
his blade much the same as he had done to the other. Eihblin seemed
frustrated that the Elf had come to her aid and messily decapitated
it, spraying blood all over the room and staining their clothes.

'Was
that really necessary?' El-Vador growled.

She
remained unapologetic. 'Do not get between me and my kill again,
Elf.'

'We
don't have time for this,' Phaedra interjected. 'Sarvacts knows where
we are now, we have to get out of here.'

El-Vador
didn't think to wonder at the time how Phaedra knew that Sarvacts was
now aware of their position, in spite of their conspicuous stains
they made their way out of the inn as quickly as they could.

A
third imitation of their initial attacker had appeared from outside
the inn, El-Vador ran his sword through it before it could register
their passing.

Another
attempted to tackle him but was on the receiving end of Eihblin's
blade, how many of them had Sarvacts sent?

Anacletus
knew exactly what had happened before he saw it unfold. His old
instincts to avoid unnecessary conflict nearly kicked in but he
forced them down. If this was what he thought then he may need to
escalate things quicker than he had planned.

All
three of them were engaged in fighting off what looked to be multiple
clones of the minion of Sarvacts that had met him on the roof. The
one that had been tasked with tracking down the rogue automaton had
instead involved itself in Anacletus' business. If it killed the
woman it was no great loss to the assassin, in fact it would be doing
him a favour in that respect. However, should El-Vador die at its
hands then the assassin would have to dispose of Sarvacts before he
was done in. Most problematic indeed. He could not trust the Elf to
dispatch these automatons with any certainty, so he moved forward
with his dagger to aid his foes.

'It
was him!' Eihblin screamed, cutting her way through one of Sarvacts'
creatures and trying to make her way across the street.

El-Vador
impaled another, then beheaded the last, no further creatures were
forthcoming.

'What?
Who was it you saw?'

'That
fool Anacletus. He made to attack us in this conflict and then ran
when we bested our foes!'

El-Vador
did not have time to see where the assassin had gone, for Syvembile
blocked his path.

'Why
are you here, priest?' El-Vador asked, not liking that the man was
armed. 'We seek an assassin and every moment we waste he grows more
distant.'

'That
may be,' Syvembile said, eyeing the blood that covered his foe. 'I
too seek an assassin, it looks like there is yet more death on your
hands, Elf.'

'This
is the blood of agents of Sarvacts, we were defending ourselves
here.'

'I
care not for the people you have butchered here, Elf. Or your reasons
for doing so.' Syvembile replied, revulsion glowing in his eyes. He
raised his sword and fell into an aggressive stance that El-Vador had
seen used at the keep. 'You will pay the ultimate price for the
murder of my comrades.' He faced Phaedra now, and then Eihblin. 'I
know not what association you have with this murderer but you too
shall pay the price.'

Syvembile
turned back and charged toward the Elf, lifting his sword high in the
air and preparing to carve his foe open with frightening speed.

El-Vador
let fly, the arrow caught Syvembile in the eye socket and sent him
tumbling to the ground, his momentum stopping at the Elf's feet.

He
looked around at Eihblin and Phaedra who had both paused in shock.
Had they really expected him to fight honourably? He had seen the
opportunity when the priest was wasting breath and had taken it
ruthlessly.

'We
need to get moving.' he said to them, plucking the bloodied arrow and
tearing the eyeball clean from the head. 'The city watch will be upon
us should we stay here any longer.'

They
nodded silently in agreement and set off in search of Anacletus once
more.

I have seen many things that others would consider impossible or
unnatural, the world that I inhabited in my youth was an unconquered
and fantastical place. I have seen it transformed from a wild and
unpredictable arena to a pallid and safe device for the nurturing of
whelps. I have undoubtedly had my hand in this change, I need not be
pleased with it though.

N
ow
that they had caught sight of him within the city walls, Anacletus
fled with all the haste his corporeal form could muster. If he had
any doubts that the Elf and his companions would pursue him before,
they had been purged by the look that bitch had given him. She would
crack her whip and the Elf would need no further encouragement to
hasten after him, it was a dangerous game he was playing now with his
quarry so close.

Still
there remained that indescribable feeling of eyes upon his back, he
was being watched by someone other than Sarvacts' forces and it
pleased him not. Things were already complicated enough without the
Caldalian authorities getting involved. To that end he refused to
rush any faster than need be, he could not afford to be detained and
there was little more suspicious after a fight than a cloaked man
running from the scene. He moved swiftly as if on an important errand
but not to the point where he would break out into a sprint,
hopefully whoever was watching thought no further of it. He only
hoped that the Elf did not reach him before he exited the city walls.

'Which
way did he go?' El-Vador asked Eihblin as he ran alongside her.

She
looked at him as if he had taken leave of his senses. 'The direction
we're running, genius.'

El-Vador
stopped in his tracks. 'Hold one moment.'

She
turned on him immediately. 'What has gotten into you? He's getting
away!'

'Phaedra,
is he headed toward the gate?'

Phaedra
stared at him a moment, then clarity dawned. 'No, he isn't.'

'He's
weaving this way and that to throw us off the trail or lead us on a
merry chase through the city so that he has time to get to the gate.
We could just go there directly and bypass all this pointless
running.'

It
took a moment for Eihblin's anger at this to settle, but she
begrudgingly admitted that was probably a sensible course of action.

'There
is only one way out of the city that leads to the mountains beyond,'
the Elf said. 'He has to pass through the southern gate, and when he
does we will be ready for him.'

'And
what if he decides to keep us waiting?' Eihblin asked, still
sceptical of the plan.

'Sarvacts
is not someone you keep waiting, take my word for it.' Phaedra
replied, shuddering.