The Thieves of Blood: Blade of the Flame - Book 1 (32 page)

“When one nears the culmination of such a long project, it’s only natural to start having second thoughts.”

Erdis Cai’s head snapped around so fast that if he’d been
mortal, he might’ve snapped his own neck. “I’m not having second thoughts. My mistress shall have Her undead army soon enough. But it would be a shame to allow this woman to die. She is a warrior with a spirit of fire and determination—a spirit strong enough to match my own.”

Jarlain couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You’re not thinking about
turning
her, are you?

“Why not? You saw how she handled herself in the amphitheater.” He turned back to look at Makala with an expression that was almost tender. “She’d make a magnificent vampire, an immortal consort to spend eternity by my side.”

“No!” Jarlain rushed over and knelt next to Erdis. “You can’t mean that! I’ve served you well and loyally all these years! If you’re going to make anyone a vampire, it should be me!”

“You?”
Erdis Cai looked at her with an expression of almost comical surprise. “You serve me because it is your honor to do so. You are not owed any imagined reward. Your continued existence should be reward enough.” He paused, as if deciding whether to go on. “To tell you the truth, at one time I did consider granting you the dark gift of eternal life. A vampire possessing your psychic powers would make a most formidable servant, but in the end, I realized you might become
too
powerful, perhaps even strong enough to resist the commands of your maker. That is why I shall never grant you immortality, Jarlain. You’re powerful enough as you are.”

Though she fought to hold them back, she couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “I thought that you … that we …”

Erdis Cai threw back his head and laughed, the brittle sound piercing Jarlain’s heart like a spear made of ice.

“You thought that I had
feelings
for you? I am a vampire,
Jarlain. I have feelings for no one and nothing. My only desire is the appeasement of my appetites. Anything else you might have thought you saw in me was merely an echo of the mortal man I used to be. Nothing more.”

Jarlain’s sorrow began to give way to rage, and she reached up and grabbed Erdis’s wrist. She concentrated the full force of her power on him, intending to instill within his mind fear such as no one had ever experienced before, enough fear to drive him mad at the very least, and if she was lucky, perhaps destroy him from the inside out.

Instead Erdis lashed out with his free hand and struck her across the face. Pain exploded in her jaw and white light flashed behind her eyes. Her grip on Erdis was broken, and she fell back onto the stone floor.

Erdis rose from the chair and stood over her. When he spoke, his voice was cold and emotionless. “You are fortunate that I am in a good mood tonight, Jarlain. Otherwise I would take you to the amphitheater and let my crew have their way with you. I want you and Onkar to see to it that our sacrifices are ready for tonight’s festivities, including Makala. Your sickening display has convinced me that a consort, even one as magnificent as she, would be more trouble than she’s worth in the long run. And Jarlain? If you fail me in even the smallest of tasks tonight, I
will
feed you to my ghouls. Do you understand me?”

Through her sobs, Jarlain managed to gasp out, “Yes.”

Erdis raised his foot, put it down on her side, and shoved her down against the floor. He then began putting his full weight on her.

“Yes, what?”

Jarlain had a difficult time drawing in enough breath to speak,
and when she did, her answer came out as a soft exhalation.

“Yes … master.”

“Much better.” Erdis removed his foot and stepped over her. As he walked to the door, he said, “Be ready by midnight, Jarlain. I’ll be spending time with my collection until then.” He opened the door and stepped into the hallway, not bothering to close the door behind him.

Jarlain lay on the floor and sobbed while Makala, still deep in the somnambulant trance Erdis had put her in, continued sleeping as she had for the last two days, oblivious to the humiliation the woman had just suffered.

As the
Zephyr
drew near Orgalos, her crew made their plans. First, Tresslar walked them through the basic layout of Grimwall. The dock entrance opened straight onto a wide passage that forked into two narrower curving corridors. The left corridor led to large chambers that the sailors had used to store supplies in Tresslar’s day but which now seemed to be the most likely place to house prisoners. The right corridor led to a series of smallish rooms that the
Seastar
’s crew had used as personal quarters. At the end of this corridor lay a set of stairs that led to the upper level where the ancient goblinoid civilization had built a city of domed buildings. The
Seastar
crew hadn’t made use of the abandoned city, for they feared whatever ghosts might linger there. On the far eastern side of the city lay a secret passage leading to the catacombs, concealed behind what appeared to be a section of the cavern wall.

“Once we’re inside Grimwall, Ghaji and I will seek out the
catacombs, stop the sacrifice, and slay Erdis Cai,” Diran said.

“Don’t forget Onkar,” Ghaji said, tightening his grip on his flaming axe. “I can’t wait to show the bastard my new toy.”

Diran turned to Ykva. “While Ghaji and I go about our work, you and Hinto will find the prisoners and free them.”

“The
Zephyr
can carry only so many more passengers,” Yvka said. “There are bound to be more prisoners than we can safely hold.”

Diran smiled. “That’s why in addition to the
Zephyr
, we’re going to take one of the Black Fleet’s vessels. Once you and Hinto free the prisoners, bring them to the dock, and get them aboard the ship. Then, after Erdis Cai has been stopped, we’ll sail her out of here.”

“We’ll need a larger crew than the five of us to sail both a galleon
and
the
Zephyr,”
Hinto said.

“Some of the prisoners are bound to be sailors,” Diran said, “or at least have enough knowledge to help crew a ship.” He smiled. “These are the Principalities, after all.”

“What’s to prevent the raiders from pursuing us in the other two ships?” Tresslar asked.

Ghaji bared his teeth in an orcish smile. “What makes you think there’ll be anyone alive to give chase after we’re finished in Grimwall?”

Tresslar paled at the sight of Ghaji’s lower incisors.

“You’ll
prevent anyone from following us, Tresslar,” Diran said. “You can use your skills to disable the elemental containment rings aboard the other vessels. Without the air elementals to power their sails, the raiders will never be able to catch up to us.”

Tresslar nodded. “I can do that.”

“Maybe Tresslar should go with you and Ghaji,” Yvka said. “If he can nullify the containment rings, maybe he can use his knowledge of magic to prevent the resurrection of the goblinoid army.”

Tresslar shook his head. “My skills, extensive as they are, don’t extend to that sort of magic. Spiritual energy is entirely different from elemental magic. I can no more counter the enchantment on the hobgoblin warriors than I can repel the undead or exorcise demons.”

They talked a bit more after that, but soon they reached the shoreline of Orgalos, and the time for talk was over.

The
Zephyr
sailed into the hidden cove, moving silently across the still black water. Yvka had deactivated the elemental as they’d drawn close to Orgalos, so the glowing light generated by the containment ring wouldn’t alert anyone to their approach. The rocky cliffs that formed the winding passage from the sea into the cove cut off most of the wind, so Ghaji and Diran rowed while Yvka worked the tiller. Hinto and Tresslar stood at the railing, keeping watch as they drew near Grimwall.

Ghaji was concentrating on rowing, but there was enough light from the moons to illuminate Tresslar’s face, especially for someone possessing orcish night vision. Tresslar was looking up at the night sky, index finger weaving through the air, as if the artificer were drawing imaginary lines between the moons and stars. Then Tresslar stopped, and a look of grave concern came over his face. He hurried across the deck and sat down next to Diran.

“I’m not certain,” Tresslar said in a near whisper. “After all, it’s been forty years and more since I translated the runes in the catacombs, but I believe tonight’s celestial configuration is conducive for the rite of lifeforce transference.”

“How about translating that into common for the rest of us?” Ghaji asked.

Diran answered for the artificer, his tone grim. “He means that Erdis Cai is going to perform sacrifices tonight.” He turned to Tresslar. “How much time do we have, assuming we haven’t arrived too late.”

“We have until half past midnight,” Tresslar said. “I remember that detail very well because it seemed like such an odd time to me. Why not midnight? I’ve always wondered if it were due perhaps to some slight difference in the way the ancient goblinoids calculated the hours of the day.”

Ghaji glanced up at the sky. He’d spent his childhood living in the wild, and he needed nothing more than the heavens to help him tell time. “That gives us about an hour, Diran, if that.”

“Then we’ll just have to work fast, won’t we?” Diran said.

Hinto came over to join them then, the halfling trembling, and though the night air held a chill, Ghaji didn’t think that was the sole reason Hinto shuddered.

“An hour? Is that enough time?” Hinto asked.

“It’s going to have to be,” Diran said and put his back into rowing.

The halfling looked at the priest for a moment with wide fear-filled eyes, then Hinto sat down next to him, grabbed hold of the oar and helped row.

The
Zephyr
rounded a last bend in the passage, and Tresslar said, “That’s it. Grimwall.”

Ghaji, Diran, and Hinto stopped rowing for a moment and turned to look forward. In the dark, the cliff face rose from the ebon water like a wall of solid shadow. A long wooden dock stretched forth from a semicircular opening carved into the base of the cliff, and berthed at the dock were three galleons, all painted black. Ghaji needed no further proof that Tresslar hadn’t been lying to them than seeing the Black Fleet at anchor.

“Go easy,” Yvka said in a loud whisper from the stern. “I’ll take us in.”

Ghaji, Diran, and Hinto slowed the pace of their rowing, and Yvka guided the
Zephyr
toward a berth at the end of the dock. Smart move, Ghaji thought. In the event that they’d need to make a quick getaway, they’d have no obstacles in their way to slow them down when they departed.

“Stop rowing,” Yvka said.

Ghaji and Diran pulled their oars out of the water and hooked them into the oarlocks. The
Zephyr
then drifted slowly toward the dock and into a berth, the bow thumping into the wooden dock with the merest of impacts. Since Ghaji was no longer needed to row, he stood up and tapped Hinto on the shoulder.

“Come on, let’s go tie us down.”

Hinto gave the half-orc a smile, trying to be brave despite his fear, then rose and followed Ghaji. They vaulted over the starboard railing and landed lightly onto the dock. Diran and Tresslar tossed lines to each, and a moment later the
Zephyr
was lashed to the dock. They had no intention of dropping anchor here. It was too heavy and would make too loud a splash, and pulling it back up would slow them down if they needed to leave in a hurry. The rope lines would serve well enough.

Yvka locked the tiller then came forward to let the gangplank down. Ghaji caught the other end and made sure the plank made no sound as he lowered it to the dock. As Diran, Yvka, and Tresslar disembarked, Ghaji drew his new fire axe and looked around. Though there didn’t seem to be any guards stationed at the dock or on any of the elemental galleons, it paid to be cautious. In addition to his fire axe Ghaji carried his old axe tucked into his belt. Diran, as always, was fully armed, though he’d spent some time making certain the daggers hidden in his cloak would prove effective against vampires. Hinto had his long knife, and Tresslar carried his wand, which Diran had returned to him after they’d first sighted Orgalos. Yvka … well, Ghaji was confident she had one or two surprises in the bag of tricks hanging from her belt.