Night of Long Shadows

CHAPTER 18

The third day of Long Shadows

Sar, the 28th day of Vult, 998

Waves of pain pulsed through Cutter’s head. Every time a wave crested, it felt as though his brain was pushing against his skull, trying to escape through his eye sockets. Then it would slowly subside and he would hope it was finished, hope that the pain had ended, until a few moments later, it started all over again.

As he struggled through the black depths of unconsciousness, he became aware of another pain, this one in the muscles just below his armpits. This one was constant, a drawn-out stretching feeling that wouldn’t go away no matter how much he tried to ignore it.

He wondered briefly if he had been drinking last night. That would account for the headache. But what about the arms?

Freezing cold water hit him in the face. He drew in a huge gulp of air, gasping at the shock of the temperature. His eyes snapped open. He shook the water from his face as his blurry vision slowly focused on the floor below him.

He looked up. His arms were pulled high above him, tied together by a rope that was thrown over a thick wooden beam, one of many that supported the roof. He scanned down the rope and saw that it was tied around one of the strange pillars. His feet dangled about five feet off the ground.

“Glad to see you’re finally awake,” said a voice.

He looked up and wasn’t at all surprised to see Jana standing before him with an empty bucket in her hand. She had a bandage tied around her neck.

“Host, don’t you ever go away?” said Cutter. “Like I told you five years ago, I’m not interested.”

The bucket flew through the air. He managed to turn aside just in time to avoid it hitting him full in the face. Instead, it cracked into the side of his head. Blood trickled over his ear.

He turned and glared at her.

“That look might scare some of the people you hang out with, Blackbird, but not me. I’ve seen a lot worse.”

“I know. When you look in the mirror every morning.”

It was childish. He knew that, but he couldn’t help it. The words were out of his mouth before he could even think about stopping them.

Jana shook her head and smiled ruefully. “You’re really something, you know that? Here you are, not far from death, and you can still crack a joke. It’s good. It shows character.”

Cutter glanced up at the knots around his wrist. They looked pretty tight.

“Don’t bother. You’ll never get out of it. Face it, Blackbird. You’re a dead man breathing. No one’s going to come to your rescue. No one’s going to save you.” Jana walked forward and pulled out a cutthroat razor. She flicked the blade out and turned it this way and that, studying it. “Found this in Tiel’s bath chamber. I learn a lot about people from what they keep in the bath chamber. It looks old. I think the handle is bone of some kind. What are you laughing at?”

She looked up and saw Cutter laughing painfully.

“You,” he said. “Going through people’s bath chambers like some kind of pervert.”

Jana slashed out with the razor, never once breaking eye contact with Cutter. He felt a sharp slice of pain along his stomach, then warmth seeping through his clothes. He stared into her dark eyes, not moving, not giving her the satisfaction of seeing the pain.

“There’s nothing you can do to me that wasn’t done in Valenar.”

She smiled. “We’ll just have to see about that, won’t we?”

“I have no fight with you, Jana. I want Tiel. That’s all.”

“Oh, but that’s not good for me. Tiel pays me very well. He was most upset that he missed you the other night at the Hanging Garden, by the way. That’s what I was doing there-meeting him about you. Although I didn’t know it then. Would have saved everyone a lot of bother if you’d stayed.” She took a step forward. Cutter tensed, thinking to kick her with his feet, but she was careful to stay out of range. “I’ll make a deal with you-for old time’s sake. Tell me where the money is and I’ll kill you quick.”

“There never was any money. A couple of hobgoblins got to it before me.”

She stared thoughtfully at him. “Pity,” she said, and darted in to punch him in the stomach. He didn’t have time to tense his muscles, and Jana knew how to hit hard, jabbing in and backing out quickly. He jerked on the rope, swaying back and forth as he gasped for breath. As he did so, he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. The knot that tied the rope to the pillar shifted as he rocked. He wasn’t sure if the whole rope was moving around the pillar or if the knot was weakening, but it gave him an idea.

Cutter tensed his shoulder and arm muscles, putting his weight against the rope and pulling himself up. Not much, not so that Jana would notice. At the same time, he grabbed hold of the rope with his bound hands and focused on pulling it down.

“That’s just for starters,” said Jana. “I’m going to keep you alive for a long time, Cutter.”

Cutter sucked in great gulps of air. “Why? What did I do?”

“What did you do? You ruined everything, that’s what you did. Why do you think you were arrested in the first place? For taking some stupid bribes? There isn’t one person in the Sharn Watch who doesn’t take bribes. It’s practically written into your contract. That’s why the pay is so bad. They know we’re going to get some money on the side.”

“Then what?”

“You were asking questions about Leto’s death. Questions quite a few of us didn’t want answered.”

Cutter stared at Jana in surprise. Leto had been his superior when he joined the Watch. It was his job to show Cutter the ropes, make sure he didn’t get himself killed in his first week. Cutter hadn’t liked him much. Leto showed him all the stuff they didn’t teach you anywhere else, the least of which was that taking bribes was not a bad thing. But then one night, he was found floating in the Dagger River, and Cutter had done some digging. Nothing drastic. He didn’t actually care that Leto was dead-Khyber, he’d probably deserved what he got.

Cutter was arrested and kicked out of the Watch not long after.

He struggled to think back, but he couldn’t recall uncovering anything that implicated anyone. “But I didn’t even dig that deep. I just thought it was someone with a grudge.”

“Oh, it was. Me. But we couldn’t take the chance you would find anything.”

“Why are you telling me this? It was five years ago. I don’t care, Jana.”

Jana’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You don’t care that I was responsible for getting you kicked off the Watch? If not for that, you wouldn’t have been taken by the Valenar. You were a slave, Cutter.”

“But if you hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t have met Rowen,” he said. “Everything happens for a reason, Jana. What happened back then … it brought me to a place in my life where I was happy.”

Jana stared at him incredulously. “You getting philosophical on me, Blackbird? Didn’t ever see you as much of a thinker.”

“I wasn’t. But three years on the Valenar plains, you learn to look inside a bit.”

She searched his face, curiosity plain on her features. “I’m kind of sad to kill you now, Blackbird. You’ve actually become interesting.”

Cutter made one last attempt. “Then cut me down. All I want is to get the person who took Rowen from me. All I want is Tiel.”

For a moment he thought she was actually going to cut him down. Then she broke into a grin, and Cutter felt his hopes drip away like the blood from his wound.

“No, I don’t think so. Nice try, though.”

Cutter glanced surreptitiously at the knot. Was it his imagination, or had it unraveled a fraction?

“You always were pathetic,” he said, turning his attention to Jana and looking as contemptuous as possible.

Jana looked at him in amazement. “Excuse me?”

“Why don’t you just admit it? All that stuff about Leto. It’s all rubbish. You did all this because I turned you down. You wanted me and I said no. You couldn’t handle that.”

Jana burst out laughing. “That’s some ego you have there, Blackbird.”

“And do you know why I turned you down? Because you were sad. Here was this old woman-and you practically are an old woman Jana, no matter how much dye you put in your hair-here was this old woman getting drunk and making a pass at the new recruit. It was embarrassing, Jana.”

“Shut up, Blackbird.”

“You were so desperate. And you know what? After you left, I actually felt sorry for you. I don’t even think it was about sex. You were just so lonely you didn’t want to wake up alone.”

“I said shut up!”

Jana lunged forward and punched him in the stomach again. He didn’t try to kick her. Instead, he went with the punch, subtly moving his legs like a child on a swing to get rocking back and forth. She hit him again. His breath exploded from his lungs, but again, he used the force of the punch to build up his swing.

He glanced at the knot. It was definitely unraveling, loosening in quick jerks every time his movement carried him backward. He pointed his feet forward in an attempt to get some more power, but Jana saw him and stepped back a pace.

She looked up at him and shook her head. “Nice try, Blackbird. But you’re not going to get me close enough to try anything.”

Cutter felt the rope jerk as he moved to the zenith of the swing. He looked at the knot and saw it parting. He pulled himself up and thrust his feet forward, swinging with as much energy as he could. The knot gave way and he sailed through the air, carried by his forward momentum. Jana’s eyes opened wide and she tried to dive out of the way, but she was too late. His feet caught her full in the face and she flew backward, blood spraying from her nose.

Cutter landed heavily on his back. He struggled for breath and tried to pull his wrists apart, but that knot was still tight.

He pushed himself to his knees, then to his feet, and staggered over to Jana. She sat against the wall and shook her head dazedly, one hand trying to stop the blood flowing from her nose.

She looked up as Cutter approached. “You bastard!” she screamed, trying to stand up.

Cutter pushed her down again and wrapped the trailing rope around her neck, pulling it tight. Jana fought and struggled, squirming round in his grasp so that she was eventually facing away from him. He pulled the rope tighter, hearing her struggling for breath.

Then his hands flew apart, pulling against nothing. Jana whirled around and slashed at him with the razor. He raised his arm to block the swipe and felt it slice his skin to the bone. He lashed out with his other hand, punching her in the jaw. The razor flew through the air and skittered across the floor.

Cutter dropped the loose end of the severed rope and ran after the razor. He grabbed the bone handle and tried to maneuver it to cut the rope around his wrists. He glanced over his shoulder-

And saw the boot coming straight for his head. He jerked back, but the tip of her foot caught him on the forehead, sending him spinning to the floor. Cutter held on to the razor and tried to saw the rope beneath his body. Jana kicked him in the ribs. He cried out in pain and curled up, turning his back to her as he managed to saw through the last of the cord. He pulled his wrists apart and turned, catching her foot as it came in for another kick. Cutter twisted it hard, intending to break the ankle, but Jana saw what he was doing and leaped into the air, spinning in the direction of his twist. She fell to the floor and Cutter pushed himself to his feet, tossing aside the last of the rope.

He dropped the razor hastily into his pocket and grabbed his blades from the table, turning to face Jana. She was standing again, favoring her injured ankle. She grinned through bloodstained teeth and slowly drew the sword at her side. Cutter noted it was double-edged, so he held the Khutai knives along his forearms, ready to use them to parry her swings.

She ran at him, letting loose with a furious blur of overhead and side swings. Cutter raised his forearms to block, using the blades along his arms as armor to catch the edge of the sword. Sparks flew as they ranged back and forward across the floor, both of them evenly matched. Cutter never quite reached inside her guard to land a blow.

He didn’t have the reach of her sword either, so she had the advantage. But she was pressing the attack so violently that she would tire soon. All Cutter had to do was wait.

That was, if he could stay alive that long.

Jana adapted her attack, not just battering at his arms, but twisting the sword as she drew back, trying to catch his skin under the guard of the blades. She succeeded a few times, his grip on his knives slipping with sweat and enabling her to inflict numerous slashes and cuts. His arms were soon slick with blood.

But she was starting to tire. Her attacks became risky, opening herself to retaliation. Cutter held off from taking advantage straight away, suspecting some kind of trick.

He was right to wait. She was tiring, yes, but she still had enough left in her for one last feint. She lowered her guard, her arms dropping in what seemed like exhaustion. Cutter darted in and took a swipe, but he didn’t commit himself to the lunge. He pulled up short, narrowly avoiding her sword as she brought it into the air exactly where his chest would have been if he’d followed through.

She was expecting resistance. When there wasn’t any, it threw her off balance. She staggered forward and Cutter stepped past her guard and thrust the Khutai blade into her stomach. He pushed up, the curve of the blade forcing it up behind her rib cage and into her heart.

They both froze, staring into each other’s eyes. She grabbed hold of his arm, her fingers digging into his skin and drawing blood.

She sagged against him, her knees buckling beneath her. Cutter pulled the blade out and stepped away from the pulse of blood as she collapsed onto the tiles at his feet.

Cutter staggered backward and fell against the wall, staring at her body. He sat for a while, struggling to calm his rapidly beating heart.

After his breathing had slowed to a less furious rate, he looked at his arms, then at his shirt and trousers. Everything was covered in blood and sweat. If he planned on getting to Skyway to track down Tiel, he needed to clean himself up.

He pushed himself painfully to his feet and limped out of the room. He paused in the hallway to make sure he was alone, but he couldn’t hear any other signs of life. Obviously, Tiel trusted Jana to take care of the job.

He headed down the stairs and out the front door. The huge fountain splashed and gurgled to itself, a monument to bad taste and too much money. Cutter slipped over the side and into the water and scrubbed himself all over, trying to get his clothes as clean as possible. He stood up and looked at himself. It wasn’t ideal, but it would do for the moment. As soon as he was away from the house, he would stop and get bandaged up. Maybe he could find some clean clothing along the way.

Torin slumped in the professor’s desk chair and tried to read the same sentence he had been trying to read. He was bored. He’d been sitting for ages, and still no sign of Cutter. Torin heard the sounds of the college outside the door: footsteps in the hallway, conversations passed between co-workers, the opening and closing of doors.

Liena would be preparing supper right about then, he mused, his stomach rumbling. It was Torin’s favorite-a slowly cooked stew. His stomach rumbled just thinking about it.

He always gave Wren a hard time about his wife, but she didn’t really hate him. Torin thought she was actually jealous of his relationship with Wren. She knew he would drop everything for Wren, would probably give his life to save the half-elf. But it was no more than he would do for Liena. He didn’t have a large group of friends, but when he cared for someone, it was a lifelong commitment.

Wren was like a wayward nephew. He wasn’t kidding when he had suggested he was like Wren’s uncle. It was how he really felt. Wren needed someone like himself to ground him, otherwise he’d be chasing a tangent at every opportunity. He had a great mind, but like other great minds, it had a tendency to fragment sometimes, to spill over into triviality.

Torin’s stomach grumbled again. Why did he have to wait, anyway? Why not wait somewhere he could get something to eat? It wouldn’t take long. He didn’t think Cutter would come back here, anyway. That man was on his own mission.

He hopped off the chair and opened the door, heading into the hallway. He almost collided with Kayla, the dwarf hurrying down the corridor with her arms full of files.

“Torin? What are you doing here?”

“Kayla. Sorry.” He reached out and adjusted the pile she was holding so it wouldn’t topple over. “What? Oh, waiting for Cutter. He’s supposed to be bringing the dragonshard back here.”

“What? You found it?”

“We did, yes.”

Kayla nodded and looked over Torin’s shoulder into the room. “Where’s Master Wren?”

“He’s gone off with Col to speak to Xavien.”

“Xavien? The city councilor?”

Torin nodded. “It looks like he’s part of this whole thing.”

Kayla frowned. “Really? Larrien won’t be happy about that. And who is this Col?”

“Sorry. I forgot you don’t know about that. He’s a member of the Dark Lanterns. He’s been working the case as well.”

“Sounds like you made a lot of progress since destroying the desk.”

Torin shifted uncomfortably. “Sorry about that. Cutter. Not big on subtlety.”

Kayla sighed. “It’s fine. As long as it gets this case sorted out. Where were you going?”

“To find some food. I’ve been waiting here for ages, but I don’t think he’s going to show.”

“You think something’s happened to him?”

“I have no idea. But he was supposed to be here over an hour ago.”

Kayla nodded. “I see. But what if he comes back and you’ve disappeared? Tell you what. You stay here and I’ll bring you some food.”

Torin grinned. “Thanks. And my stomach thanks you, too.”

He turned back into the office. As he stepped over the threshold, he felt a sharp pain in his lower back, near his kidneys. Thinking he’d been stung by something, he reached around to feel for a bite, but the sting blossomed into a shooting pain. He touched the spot. It felt wet. And warm. Then another blossom of hot pain. He looked at his hand. It was covered in blood.

He frowned in confusion and turned around. Kayla stood before him holding a bloody dagger. He looked at it, then at her, not understanding. His legs suddenly felt weak. He reached out to Kayla to steady himself. She grabbed him by the shoulder. He thought she was going to hold him up, but then stabbed the knife into his stomach.

He fell to his knees, his hands going to the wound, trying to stanch the blood. Everything felt like it was fading away, like he was falling asleep.

But he wasn’t. He was dying.

He fell forward onto the carpet. He couldn’t believe it. This was it.

Goodbye, Liena.

Just before he closed his eyes, he realized that his last words, his legacy to the world, were, And my stomach thanks you, too.

Wren would probably find that amusing.