Thread Slivers (Golden Threads Trilogy), page 28
Ossa-Ulla knelt with his head down and back straight. In supplication to his master’s rage, his knives were laid bare on the floor in front of him as the tradition demanded. He was naked from the waste up. Years of perfection ruined by a deceiving charlatan of a woman who hides behind her appearance of youth to trap men. If I am allowed to continue I will rend her in the old style. She will see her own entrails pulled out slowly over days and used to feed animals while she still lives. He looked at the knives. If I get the chance, that is. Urio-Larne is within his rights to demand complete repentance of me.
“The Daggers killed two of our very best, you only just managed to escape, and that was in rags.” Urio-Larne stopped in front of him. There was the sound of snapping fingers over his head, followed by something being handed to Urio-Larne by one of the two men standing at attention behind Ossa-Ulla. Urio-Larne shook the ripped green vest and shirt wadded together within his field of vision. The cloth was stained with blood — some of it his own — and had cuts from the Daggers’ knives. “Rags! Rags! There are whole sections missing from these! This isn’t some stupid hound! This is Duke! Duke, and you left him rags to scent you by! You came here! Rags! This was the worst and most thoughtless action of a cadet. It is impossible to think of anything you could possibly have done worse!” Throwing the clothes on the floor in front of him, Urio-Larne started pacing again.
Two days of this and each day it gets worse. More news or events come because of the start. Yet he does not decide my fate — it is as if he is waiting for something. He hasn’t made up his mind yet. He is trapped and embarrassed. How could I have known she was so good? We didn’t even know we were surrounded by Daggers! I should have guessed that, or at the very least considered it. The first group fell so easily. Ticca, that devil woman, who is she really? That was a trap at the gate and we walked right into it. I am shocked that the Daggers would sacrifice their own to bait a trap. It was very well played. I will never underestimate them again. The group that pinned us against the gate was well prepared. She was the commander though, I am sure of it. She played her part perfectly. She led me to the gate, causing my men to follow, and then as soon as everyone was exactly where she had planned she had Duke close the trap. Very well played. I bet she is in the palace right now helping to determine how to best to hunt us down. Ticca, I swear I will rend you in the old style.
Someone stepped to the threshold of the library and waited respectfully.
Urio-Larne paced back and forth several more times. “What is it?”
“Sir, we have managed to spray every part of the neighborhood and the path Ossa-Ulla took returning here three times now. We shall not be able to do a forth.”
“Why not?”
“Sir, Duke hunts.”
“Not possible! He took a full dose of burned carmine. He won’t be able to track effectively for at least another three or four days.”
“Sir, signal relay reports Duke has begun untangling the scents at the west gate.”
“We must prepare for discovery. I am not sure if three treatments are enough to stop him; two have proven ineffective before, we only know positively that six with time to dry are enough. If he comes on the area before the chemicals finish working he’ll know it has been cleaned, which will give away the general area. After that, this whole area of town will be torn apart looking for us. Damn it! We must execute a complete shutdown.” He spun and walked over to Ossa-Ulla. “This is worse and worse. Do you realize that having such a public fight in an open space which Duke could and did have placed off-limits means he will gain all three scents? Further, you exposed our observation post for the Dolphin. Duke has claimed and sealed that too! There was no chance to clean that! Many of our warriors will be cataloged by him and there will be absolutely no hiding them!”
Urio-Larne stepped to his desk and back. He heard papers being shaken over his head. “Ossa-Ulla, you are given a reprieve.”
Surprised, Ossa-Ulla looked up but remained kneeling.
Urio-Larne shook some papers at him. “Warlord Maru-Ashua commands me to reinstate you as Nhia-Samri. He allows me the privilege of naming your rank. He also suggests that I send you out of the city, to a less conspicuous location.” Urio-Larne paced again and then smiled. “We will evacuate you to outpost Llino Twelve. From there you can take an assistant and proceed to Algan. I want every part of Magus Vestul’s house in ashes before anyone gets the idea to search it. Do you think you can handle lighting a fire in a small city filled with old people and children, Second Lieutenant Ossa-Ulla?”
Two ranks? You strip me of two ranks?! I am barely more than a cadet. Looking firmly at his Colonel, he answered, “I will serve well. And after?”
“Return to Llino Twelve via Rhini Wood. Find out more about this Ticca. You are in no way to make contact with Ticca’s family in Rhini Wood, nor are you to do anything more than intelligence gathering. I expect a complete report in four weeks.”
Picking up his swords, he sheathed them respectfully. Bowing once all the way to floor he stood and walked out of the room to prepare for the journey. Bitterly, he thought, I shouldn’t need a second chance. But I will take it.
Preparations didn’t take long. Within a mark he was fitted with a breathing system. The underwater breather was a set of tubes that attached to a float which could be changed to look like a small piece of wood or floating garbage or reeds or whatever was appropriate for the water it was to be used in. The breather would allow fresh air down one tube only and the second tube exhausted his breath by small holes under the water, making bubbles which were too small to be spotted except up close, and then they would look like they came from a water animal. A simple valve switched back and forth based on his breathing allowed him to breathe in good air and vent the bad. It also had a helmet made from glass and wire which allowed him to see very clearly. He knew if he went too deep the glass would shatter and likely kill him.
He was also handed the weights needed to stay submerged. The water was extremely cold, especially near the bottom, but his constitution could deal with the shock. Once in the water, he walked calmly down the bottom of the Delivery Channel, careful of the traffic and his breathing system. His papers, some clothes, and supplies were sealed in a water-tight harness that was strapped to his back. Once in the harbor, he carefully dropped some of the weights until he was able to easily maintain a good depth at just under the fifty-foot reach of the breathing system. Swimming slowly, he found the harbor was blocked by gates made of steel bars which were impossible to squeeze through.
He searched the docks for a way out, and finding none, he sat by a gate underwater, breathing slowly. Sooner or later they have to open the gate for a merchant; that will be my time. The day wore on and he grew very tired. The sun passed out of sight and he felt the tides pulling him into the gate. He let the water pressure hold him there and rested. Sometime later a ship was approaching — he could hear its movement in the water and behind him; he felt the gate swing silently open. After a day of struggle, escape was as simple as relaxing and letting the tide sweep him out of the city. Duke, I have escaped you. But, the Lords permit, I will be back.
He stayed underwater until he was sure the ship was out of sight and he was far from the city. Slowly, in the dark, he surfaced in timed stages as he had been instructed. Surfacing to the starry night sky, he paused to enjoy the sight and then struck out for shore, which he could hear in the distance. He was east of the city where the marshes merged with the river and sea, creating the great swamp lands. When his foot hit the muddy swamp floor he knew he was close enough to shore to stand, but there was no dry land in sight. Taking off the heavy gear and the water pack he rearranged everything so it could be easily carried.
Looking up at the stars, he found the ones he needed. A little observation and he knew which way to head. He had studied the detailed maps of the marshes and was able to guess where he was. He also paid close attention to any sign of predators, as the marsh contained hunters that could kill a man before he could cry out.
I need to avoid contact, so I will have to skip the trader routes. He concentrated on remembering the maps. Then it came to him. There is an abandoned fishing home not far off. I might be able to rest there. Turning, he confirmed the landmarks and then began carefully navigating through the swamp beds. He stayed vigilant for any of the numerous predators. After just over a mark, he spotted the leaning house in the darkness. The house was little more than a dark outline against the greens of the swamp trees and shrubs. He approached cautiously, looking for signs of other people or predators.
The house was empty. A small thrill of success went through him and he gratefully climbed onto the solid grass-mound. Finally being able to stand on dry land, he found some old fishing net, made a hammock, and strung it as high as he could between two strong palm trees. He then hung his stuff high in the tree and climbed into the hammock, falling asleep almost instantly.
The morning sun woke him up. Looking down he saw that a couple of predators had come through to investigate his scent. I must have been exhausted to not have woken up when they came looking for me. Looking up at the tree where he had left his pack he saw it was still safely in the tree. Getting up, he took the hammock down and put the netting back where he had found it. Grabbing his pack, he put on the simple traveling clothes with his knives hidden under the shirt. It was four days to the outpost if he walked. I don’t want to spend another night in this swamp. It doesn’t matter how tired I am, I need to move fast right now. He started the walk ten, jog ten travel pattern that he had been taught. I should get out of the swamp by sunset and then another half-day will see me at the outpost.
The day moved on about as fast as he did. The running and walking became like a meditation. He carefully reviewed every decision he had made and action he had taken since being informed that Magus Vestul was to be intercepted before he met with Duke, the information he carried in his pouch at all times to be sent to Hisuru Amajoo unread, in no way was a Nhia-Samri to come into direct contact with Magus Vestul, and anyone not Nhia-Samri involved was to be eliminated without a trace. That assignment had fallen to him. He had found a Knife capable of killing Vestul and stealing his pouch, which would hold what Hisuru Amajoo desired. The Knife killed Vestul but did not make it to the meeting, having vanished himself. Which meant the Knife was still to be found and eliminated without a trace. Ticca had appeared by surprise. Ticca had been seen in a number of key locations over the past cycle — too many locations to be a coincidence. When it was discovered she was acting for Dalpha’s Temple he had decided she might be involved, which would mean the original orders applied to her. A real puzzle was how was Dalpha’s Temple involved?
Ticca had left the Dolphin boldly wearing Magus Vestul’s pouch. I should have seen that as a warning. In hindsight she was clearly baiting a trap. She wanted to pull us out and expose our involvement. Her trap worked perfectly; I was a fool and fell into it. I ordered her to be removed and the pouch recovered immediately by one of our own. I cannot see how she managed to hire or involve that mage. That he is a special operative is clear. How did they communicate? Unless Dalpha’s Temple was communicating with the Guild… I had not ordered the Temple to be monitored. It must have been coordinated through the Temple. The foolish-seeming mage stepped in just perfectly and laid our involvement open to the world. She played me for a fool. She pretended ignorance and efficiently ran down exactly what had happened to Vestul. Her speed at recreating Vestul’s movements was another clue that she knew more than we thought. She was just going through the motions, and again I fell for it. She had his pouch, which meant the Knife either sold us out or more likely she caught him and extracted all he knew then killed him. I am still missing something, I am sure of this; she didn’t need to spend the day tracing Vestul, unless that was just a ruse to throw us off. That must be it — she was blinding us. Interesting techniques, by publicly hunting what she already knew she confused me, which led me straight into the gate trap. I need to learn from her brilliant tactics. What is her next move? If I can get ahead of her I can turn her own trap on her.
By the time he reached the outpost he had managed to puzzle out every aspect of Ticca’s traps. She will work with Duke to destroy all of our operations in Llino. Then, knowing little or no warning was, or could, be sent to our command, she will turn to Magus Vestul’s home. Urio-Larne will be forced to destroy the command post and all but the most critical records. He’ll get as many as possible out, probably by facing Duke and Ticca directly. If I hurry I can beat her to Vestul’s Algan home. Smiling, he realized he had the chance to get ahead of Ticca and Duke. He was free of the city before they expected, through the impenetrable defenses. I will destroy it and then wait; they will not expect a burnt shell. She’ll come in by herself to keep suspicions down; but seeing the burnt-out house she’ll realize she has been expected and will have to move fast to recover. She’ll be concerned that we recovered from the house what she tried to stop us from gaining in Llino. She’ll race back to get support; they’ll have a secret camp set up beforehand. If I capture them I can gain the information we need and present that to Warlord Maru-Ashua.
I need someone who can play the part with me. The perfect operative will be a top-rank fighter with speed, mage-neutralization training, and who can sing and play an instrument well so we can pose as bards. I’ll need to make sure to burn the house a day or two before we get to town, so as not to arouse suspicion. Small villagers are narrow-minded and superstitious to a fault, if there is a fire and there are new people in town it will be blamed on them. Smiling, he laughed. Of course in this case they’d be right.
The outpost had no new communications from Llino. The commander of the outpost read Urio-Larne’s orders carefully before allowing Ossa-Ulla his pick of the outpost’s gear, horses and personnel. It took a day of careful interviewing before he hit on someone that would work. Fate was friendly and he found a gifted fighter, mage, and musician in the form of a beautiful woman named Runa-Illa. She was perfect for his plan. He gave her a short brief of the guise they would need and special equipment needed, along with the gist of his plan without precise details. She accepted the secrecy without comment and prepared their equipment admirably. All the equipment, new or old, had been distressed to look well-used and reasonably maintained. She chose to take a hammer dulcimer to complement the only instrument he could play better than most traveling musicians, the twelve-string guitar. It took two days to assemble everything, and he pressed her hard in fighting practice to help prepare her for Ticca.
Pre-dawn on the third day after leaving Llino, he and Runa-Illa mounted the light but fast horses loaded with all the right clothes, gear, and instruments of a pair of traveling bards. As they left the outpost, Ossa-Ulla took the lead, riding at a fast canter south until out of sight of the outpost and far enough to let them cut past the southern farms of Llino. Then they turned west and kept the horses moving at a steady trot. As they passed Llino the sun had just started to rise. The early morning light showed a series of smoke columns that could only be from a section of the city burning. Stopping to roughly triangulate the sources he knew that the command post was burning. Ticca, I will rend you in the old style.
Runa-Illa was also studying the smoke columns with a questioning look, yet she respectfully remained silent as good subordinate should. He broke the silence. “Llino command is destroyed. We are going to complete their last order to prevent the Dagger responsible from gaining any critical information. Then we are going to capture, interrogate, and kill her.”
Runa-Illa looked at him with cold green eyes which burned bright with her soul. She slipped off her horse while drawing her odassi. Kneeling, she held them out in front of her, blades crossed near the base just above the copper bands. Putting her head down, she said softly, “I serve, command me.”
He slipped off his horse and drew his right odassi. “Your service is honorable.” He touched his odassi blade at the point where her blades crossed the stamped mark on all three odassi glowed red. Sheathing his odassi, he mounted. “We must make best speed for Algan. We have to beat them there.”
She stood, sheathing her odassi, and mounted as well. Turning their horses, they spurred them back to a trot. Using the trot-walk travel pattern they would be able to get to Algan in perhaps a week and a half. Ossa-Ulla knew he had to get there in less than thirteen days so he could burn the house then wait a few days before the “traveling bards” got there. Ticca will be leaving Llino in two or three more days and will hurry, but not as fast as we move.
Chapter 13
Hunters hunt
“NO, I SWEAR THAT PRIESTS and priestesses just appeared from the alleys the moment the three men ran that way.” He pointed west to indicate the direction. “It was like magic. I didn’t see them before or during the fight, but then I was busy watching the fight more than looking at the other spectators. The high priestess herself came out of Drillian’s Alley last and had that golden artifact from the Temple. She ran when called by a healer and touched it to the wounded person the healer indicated. Some acolytes came with stretchers and started taking the wounded away. The high priestess walked between two of the stretchers, concentrating, with a frown on her face and that thing glowing like the sun. That’s it — except for the blood on the street I might not have believed I saw it at all.”
Elades considered the baker’s statements as compared to the story he had already assembled in his notes. The baker was only one of a dozen near or direct eyewitnesses to the fight in front of the Dolphin. In fact he was the most factual direct eyewitness of them all. If it hadn’t been for the immediate arrival of the healers most of Echo Squad would be dead. Instead only two had suffered wounds too serious for direct healing, and they were still alive at the Temple. One of those was expected to make a full recovery. How in the Lord’s name did they know to be here? I have been refused admission to the high priestess three times now, and the healers just say they go where needed. Forgive me, Lord, but sometimes holy types can be really annoying.
