SWNOVELS Soulblade: Chapter 16
FARHAZ HANDS ME A PILE of neatly folded black silks.
“Be sure to cover your hair as well as your face. We must ensure that if the Guardian is seen, he must only be seen in the company of a Nishan. One who is not too obviously a foreigner. We do not need to anger the Khalim any more than he is angered already.”
“But we can’t be going in so soon––”
One look at the set of his jaw tells me that, yes. We are indeed going in tonight.
“One hour after sunset. Be ready.”
“Farhaz, any details you can give me about the team on the ground will help me adapt if things go wrong. Which they nearly always do.”
He lets out a long breath of exasperation, letting me know that this sudden rush to get started was not what he would have preferred either.
“We needed to add some details for Tari to pass on, to make sure the Serpents took this story of a heist seriously. He told the clan chieftain that the raid is being set up by their rivals, the Sharktooth bandit gang from Al’harin. And that the opening of the gate tonight is merely a practice run for the actual robbery being planned in three days’ time.”
“I already heard of the Sharktooth syndicate. Our treacherous smuggler captain was working with them.”
“They dominate the illegal commerce in Al’harin. Another powerful gang that our team of Nishan in the port has been trying to remove for some time. Anyhow, Tari’s fake message had the desired effect on the Serpents. They regard Khotann as their territory and were furious at the thought of a rival gang invading their city. The Serpent chieftain decided to get into the palace first––hence the sudden decision to go in tonight as soon as the gate is opened.”
“Will you have enough reinforcements at this short notice to ambush the Serpents outside the prison compound? What if you fail to stop all of them from escaping with their stolen weapons?”
Farhaz looks worried. “I fear that is something that could well happen. Tari reported that the Serpent fighters may not be moving as slowly on their way out as we had hoped. They were seen strapping on double-harness to carry the stolen weapons individually, with packs to carry off the valuables. We had hoped for them to be working in teams to load horses waiting outside the gate.”
“You mean Falina reported that there were enough valuables in those storerooms to need horses to escape with?”
“Yes. But it seems the Serpents are more interested in stealing the weapons and any valuables small and light enough to carry themselves. Not only that, but Tari’s last message reported that far more fighters are being drafted in to swell the Serpent numbers for this raid than we previously anticipated.”
An uneasy feeling is stirring in the pit of my stomach. There is something seriously not right forming in this web of intersecting deceptions and timings, something we have overlooked in our hurry to dupe the local criminals into forming part of the distraction we need. And no time or opportunity to investigate, now that things beyond our control have been set in motion. We have no choice now but to continue with the escape plan.
Nilan hands me a leather bag. “Take this. Water and fruit. If our Master is to fight alongside you and escape the compound, he will need more strength than the prison food and water will have given him.”
I hope Nilan’s appraisal of her commander’s resilience is accurate and he is still able to walk. Fighting my way out of there single-handed while carrying someone the size of Shan’domir would add a whole new layer of uncertainty to an already wild plan.
I STARE AT THE UNEVEN spread of sand and dust lying beyond the perimeter fence, wondering where in all the hells Zandar has disappeared to. I can feel his presence as a quickening of the dragonfire in my veins, but I cannot see him anywhere.
“Zandar?”
Sand grains skitter aside as a great golden eye opens, almost at my feet.
You wake me so soon?
“Things seem to have moved faster than I anticipated. Are you ready to go?”
As you wish.
A small sand-avalanche flows to the ground as he raises his enormous head from its concealment. I scramble onto his neck and watch the darkened farm buildings fall away beneath us in the moonlight as his wings beat against the night air.
The moving torches atop the city walls mark the patrolling routes of the Khotann city guard as Zandar streaks across the sky in a direct line to the tower on the south side of the palace complex. He seems to know exactly where he is going, so I make no attempt to interfere.
He wraps his glowing body in a great coil around the outside of the tower, flattening his wings against the smooth outer surface. I can see the route he is laying out for me, a short but airy leap to grab the edge of the opening that serves as a window to the nearest cell.
“Zandar, I will see you again, back in the same place outside the farmhouse.”
I shall wait. But I sense your return there is uncertain. I perceive many fighters on the ground directly below us.
I push aside the urge to hesitate, to ask for more information that his dragonsight might have picked up in the dusk. Already screams and the clash of weapons cut the torchlit air from the compound below. I have to assume it means that the Serpents have made it through the outer gate and are unwittingly providing my much-needed distraction by fighting with the prison guards. I scramble to my feet on the dragon’s uneven scales, and leap.
The edge of the window opening is less sharp than I had hoped and one hand is starting to slip by the time I can pull myself up and squeeze through the narrow space. I land on a bare stone floor, roll over and spring to my feet, my hand going instinctively to my dagger in case a guard suddenly leaps at me out of the darkness.
But no, as my eyes adjust I can see that there is only one human shape in the cramped cell. Shan’domir sitting on the ground by the wall, pulling at the length of chain that binds his wrists to the iron ring set in the stone. The fetters on his ankles are fastened to a ring on the opposite wall, making his movements awkward and painful.
He stares at my black-clad outline. “I felt the Guardian approach. Who are you?”
I pull the black silk from my face.
“A Nishan who pays her debts. Forgive me for provoking the Khalim’s anger against you. Drink this while I work on your shackles.”
He takes the bag and applies himself diligently to its contents while I pull out the leather wrap containing the code-numbered Nishan lock-picks and select the one Falina had identified for me. Then I struggle to adapt my recent key-learning to the slight differences in the locks binding Shan’domir’s wrists. I free each hand in turn while he grabs the food and water with the other.
By the time his second wrist is free, both the food and Shan’domir’s patience have run out.
“Ariel, give the pick to me. I can reach my feet now. Your performance suggests that you did not spend much time studying this art during your time at Rahimar.”
I hand it over with a sigh of relief. “Actually, my first attempt was this morning and I’ve only had today to practice. With a reconstructed lock.”
The big man gives a grunt of acknowledgement as he swiftly opens the shackles around his ankles with an adept twist of the tool in his hand. The skin underneath the rough iron band is raw and bloody and the rest of him looks little better. His red and orange robes are torn and filthy, and what skin is visible bears the overlaid marks of many lashes.
I hand him a heavier pick. “This code-size is Falina’s estimate for the lock on the bars of your cell. And a file to make adjustments. Farhaz assured me you would be able to do this fairly swiftly once your hands were free. Falina has the outer gate of the compound unlocked, ready for our escape. The noise you can hear coming from below is the distraction for getting you out.”
He moves to the barred grill on the inner wall and thrusts his hands through the gap to reach the lock.
“I used to be one of the best at this task but alas, I have been focused on politics and strategy for too many years. My fingers have grown lazy.”
Even so, he opens the grill within minutes and exchanges the pick for the curved Nishan sword I brought for him.
“Shan’domir, do you still have the strength to fight your way out of here?”
He steps outside the cell, steadying himself with his free hand against the wall.
“Not as strong as I was before I spent too many days roasting in this oven of a prison cell. But if I stay behind you, I should be able to defend myself somewhat.” He moves aside to let me walk past, insisting on freeing the other two Nishan prisoners still locked in here. He tells me he knows where they are from listening to their screams. He says that is also how he knows the other prisoners are dead.
Taskana is living up to its name. There are no guards in the upper levels. The prisoners here have indeed been left to die alone.
I give two of my knives to the survivors, but I hold out little confidence that they will make it through the fight. They accept the rest of my water gladly, leaving me to hope that if they are to meet their end in the levels below, it will be a better end than chained to the wall in this furnace of a tower. Small wonder the prison guards have stayed away from the baking heat of the upper levels.
The spiral staircase is cramped and narrow. I glance back over my shoulder at each full turn to check if Shan’domir and the others are still on their feet, all the while bracing my steps in the expectation that one of them will collapse at any moment and fall on top of me.
Then the walls shake with the loud boom of an explosion somewhere below us.
Shan’domir’s voice comes from behind me, sharp and puzzled, demanding an explanation.
“Ariel! What is the purpose of using fire-powder? I thought you said Falina had already opened the outer gate?”
I wish I could give him a useful answer.
“I’m sorry, Shan’domir. I have no idea. It was not part of the planning when I spoke to Farhaz and Nilan. Maybe it was a secondary part of the Serpent’s plan that your spy Tari did not uncover.”
“How are the Serpent criminals involved in this?”
“They’re raiding the storerooms that Falina said are located at the base of this tower. It was the best diversion we could think of at short notice.”
“We are already level with the storerooms. I counted levels when they first brought me up here.” Shan’domir turns away from the staircase and heads onto the next level.
I follow him, wishing he could make escape his first priority instead of curiosity. I just have to hope that it is all part of his focus on strategy and will give him a better insight into what we might expect when we reach the ground.
The passageway gives onto a series of cells like the ones above that were used for prisoners. The doors are all open but not everything has been taken from inside. Shan’domir gives the nearest cells a quick appraisal before heading back to the stairs.
“No doubt they entered with keys stolen from the guards but they have taken only the most valuable items, small things that are easy to carry.”
“There was a suspicion that they were mainly interested in the weapons.”
“Those are kept on the ground level. We shall soon see.” He pushes me ahead of him while trying to support the weaker of the two prisoners.
The first body appears, slumped on the stone steps below and making the descent even more difficult for the survivors lurching down behind me. More corpses lie sprawled on the lower steps, prison guards and Serpent raiders piled on top of each other.
Then at last we make it out into the compound. This is the last stretch of our route to the outer gate and the freedom awaiting us in the dusty streets of Khotann. From there we have a chance to reach the safety of Nilan’s promised underground safe house, at a secret location within the city walls.
Instead, a scene of utter carnage lies before us.