Thieves of Blood

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Sunlight glittered off the waves as the Zephyr sailed beneath a clear blue sky. Tresslar stood at the railing looking out over the water.

“I never realized how much I missed being on a ship.”

Ghaji and Diran stood nearby. They’d been keeping an eye on the artificer since he’d awakened several hours ago. Despite having been struck between the eyes by the hilt of a dagger, Tresslar had no bruising or swelling, for Diran had healed the man’s minor wounds while he’d slept. Yvka sat in the pilot’s chair, Hinto at her side, attempting to show her a card trick that he couldn’t get right. The halfling laughed with good humor as he struggled to complete the card trick, showing no aftereffects of the panic that had seized him in Tresslar’s room last night.

Taking the artificer’s statement as an invitation, Ghaji and Diran joined him at the railing, Ghaji standing on his right, Diran on his left.

Tresslar ran his hand over the smooth soarwood surface of the railing. “This is a most impressive vessel indeed. Oh, I could make a few alterations to it here and there, improve the efficiency of the runners, increase the elemental’s output by a few knots, but still, she’s quite a ship. If the Seastar had been an elemental vessel, who knows how many more places we might’ve been able to travel to, how many more wonders we might’ve discovered?”

“It must’ve been difficult for you, being landbound all those years on Dreadhold,” Ghaji said.

Tresslar smiled. “I didn’t think so at the time, but now…” He let the thought go unfinished. “I suppose my wand was left behind.”

“No,” Diran said. “You held tight to it all the way to the ship.”

Tresslar nodded. “Then you’re hiding it from me. Can’t say as I blame you, considering I used it against you last night.”

“What is it?” Ghaji asked.

“A spell collector,” Tresslar said. “It’s able to absorb and store magic until the user wishes to release it. I made it myself. Considering how mobile we needed to be on the Seastar, it came in handy on more than a few occasions.”

“I apologize for abducting you,” Diran said. “I fear it makes us no better than the raiders we seek.”

“You did what you felt was right at the time,” Tresslar said. He grinned. “Just like we used to do on the Seastar.” He then turned back to gaze out across the sea.

“Forty years is a long time to be afraid,” Ghaji said.

“Yes, it is,” Tresslar agreed. He was silent for a time before finally saying, “The place you seek is called Grimwall. It lies within a hidden cove on the northern side of Orgalos.”

Diran’s face betrayed no emotion, but Ghaji could hear the repressed excitement in his voice as he said, “Thank you, Tresslar.” The priest then hurried to inform Yvka that they needed to change course.

Ghaji said, “That was a brave thing you did.”

“Perhaps,” Tresslar said, “or very foolish. I suppose we’ll soon find out which.”

Ghaji nodded. “I suppose we will.”

They felt the deck shift beneath their feet as the Zephyr began to tack northward. Ghaji went off to attend to the sails, leaving Tresslar looking out at the waves, alone with his thoughts.

While Ghaji took care of the sails, now with Hinto’s help, Diran returned to the railing to stand once more beside Tresslar.

“Why has Erdis Cai been abducting people?” Diran asked.

Tresslar shrugged. “Since you told me that he’s become a vampire, I assume he’s been gathering them for food.” The artificer grimaced.

“That’s what I thought as well, until you told us the location of Grimwall. There’s a sizable population on Orgalos. If all Erdis Cai needed was food, he could find it easily enough there. Vampires tend not to range very far from their lairs. They have great difficulty crossing running water, except in a craft of some sort, and even then it isn’t comfortable for them. Can you think of any other reason Erdis Cai would need to abduct so many people?”

“Maybe he’s creating an army.”

“I’d considered that possibility, but as I mentioned before, while vampires possess great power, they also have a number of weaknesses that make them less than effective warriors. Sunlight, silver, running water, holy symbols… and while as their ‘father’ Erdis Cai would be able to dominate and control his army, vampires tend to be solitary predators, preferring little to no competition for prey.”

“Then maybe Erdis is training his captives to be a mortal army. Presumably, that’s how he came by his Black Fleet raiders in the first place. How am I supposed to know? I haven’t seen the man for forty years, and the last time I saw him, he was a man! Now that he’s a vampire, I don’t…”

Tresslar broke off his rant, eyes widening as a new thought occurred to him. “No, it couldn’t be that… could it?”

“Couldn’t be what?” Diran asked.

“It happened several years after we’d discovered the abandoned underground city and took it over as our base. Whenever we were home, I’d spend my spare time exploring the city and the levels below, trying to uncover its secrets. One day, I found a hidden door that led to a chamber we’d never seen before. It was a burial chamber of a sort that held the desiccated bodies of hobgoblin warriors… two thousand of them. There was a large depression in the middle of the chamber with a stone dais rising in the middle. Runes had been engraved into the dais, and I translated them. The runes explained who the warriors were and why they had voluntarily chosen to die and be interred in the catacombs. There were also instructions for reviving them.”

Diran felt a cold emptiness in the pit of his stomach. “Let me guess what the main ingredient for reviving the warriors is: blood.”

Tresslar nodded, his face had gone pale. “And lots of it.” So Erdis Cai was trying to create an army, but not one comprised of vampires or humans. He was raising an army of undead hobgoblin warriors. Once he’d resurrected the goblinoids and they were under his control, he would use them to wreak havoc throughout the Principalities and beyond in his mistress’ foul name. Their rescue mission had just become far more complicated and the stakes infinitely higher. Erdis Cai had to be stopped before he could resurrect his undead army-no matter the cost.

Jarlain opened the door of her bedchamber, intending to check on Makala. She hadn’t been thrilled when Erdis had commanded her to give over her room to the unconscious woman. After all, the other two candidates for tonight’s sacrifice-both of whom Erdis had also entranced-were sleeping on the cold stone floors of separate cells. What made this woman so special? Despite her feelings, Jarlain had smiled and agreed to give up her room. Erdis was her master, after all. She was glad the bitch was going to die tonight, though. Erdis had displayed entirely too much interest in the former assassin. As far as Jarlain was concerned, there was room for only one woman in Erdis’ inner circle, and that was her.

When she walked into the room and saw Erdis sitting next to her bed on her dressing table chair, looking down at Makala slumbering beneath her silken sheets, Jarlain experienced a surge of jealous anger.

“How long have you been here?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them.

“Since I woke from my day’s rest,” Erdis said without taking his gaze from Makala. “I’ve been thinking.”

His voice held that distracted, dreamy tone she’d heard too often of late. She feared that there was less and less within him of the man Erdis Cai had once been, but what that personality was being replaced with, she didn’t know.

“About what?” Jarlain asked, though she wasn’t certain she wanted to hear his answer.

“Whether it might not be better to sacrifice the other two worthy ones tonight and save this one for… other purposes.”

Erdis reached down and brushed a lock of blond hair off Makala’s face. Jarlain didn’t need to ask what those “other purposes” were.

“You’ve worked four decades to reach this night,” Jarlain reminded him.

“So what will a few more weeks matter?”

Jarlain ground her teeth together in frustration, knowing that with his enhanced senses, Erdis would hear but not caring if he did. Ever since Onkar had captured her during a raid fifteen years ago on Lorghalan, where she’d been using her mental powers in the employ of a minor Lhazaarite prince, she’d served Erdis Cai and served him well. With her abilities, they’d been able to identify worthy sacrifices far more swiftly, thus speeding up the timetable for the completion of Erdis’ plan. If it hadn’t been for her, he might still be struggling to reach his first thousand sacrifices, instead of being on the verge of two thousand.

“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’ 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 Yvka. “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.

“Looks like no one’s about,” Yvka whispered, careful not to make any more noise than necessary.

“This cove is so well hidden that they don’t need to guard the dock,” Diran said. What he didn’t say, but which Ghaji knew he was thinking, was that there was a good chance the denizens of Grimwall were all inside preparing for tonight’s sacrifice.

Tresslar stood staring at the cliff face. In the dark, the artificer could make out few details, Ghaji guessed, but then the older man was probably remembering more than he was seeing.

“Tresslar,” Diran said, but the artificer didn’t reply at first, and Diran took hold of the man’s shoulder and shook him gently.

“Hmm?” The artificer turned to Diran with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, it’s just… been a long time. I never thought I’d be standing here again.” Tresslar’s tone was both wistful and frightened as memories of the past and fears about the present collided.

The five companions walked down the dock toward the entrance to Grimwall. As they passed the elemental galleons, Ghaji wished there was time to do a proper reconnaissance. Any number of raiders could be onboard any or all of the ships, ready to rush down the gangplanks and attack the intruders. If they were to have any chance of stopping Erdis Cai from sacrificing innocents, perhaps including Makala, they had to move swiftly and trust to luck. Diran, however, would say that they should trust in the power of the Silver Flame. That was all well and good, Ghaji supposed, but the half-orc warrior preferred to place his faith in a well-honed axe-blade.

They were three quarters of the way to the entrance when something splashed in the water off to their left.

“What is it?” Hinto said in a shaking voice. “Do you think it’s… them?”

“We’re leagues away from the Mire,” Diran said. “There’s nothing to fear from it.”

“What if it’s followed us?” Hinto said.

They stopped and listened, but the sound didn’t come again. They started walking once more, but there was a second splashing sound, this time followed by the soft scratching of something climbing up onto the dock behind them. They spun around to behold a squat dark shape the size of a large dog crouching on the dock. Whatever it was, Ghaji decided it was best to kill first and ask questions later, if at all. He stepped forward, willing his axe to activate. The dragonshard embedded in the weapon’s pommel glowed and the metal was wreathed in flame, though the haft remained cool to the touch.

The light revealed a mottled green-gray crab large as a mastiff. The sudden burst of illumination caused the creature to retreat several paces, its segmented legs making soft clack-clack-clack sounds as it scuttled back, large front claws waving back and forth in a defensive posture.

Ghaji was about to step forward and split the crab’s shell in two when Hinto stepped past him, long knife in hand. The halfling waved his long knife in the air as he advanced on the beast, and the crab leaned left, right, then back again as it tracked the movement of Hinto’s weapon. When the halfling was close enough, the crab lunged forward, ready to snap up the tasty morsel in its front claws. Hinto dodged to the side and smacked the flat of his blade hard against the one of the crab’s eyestalks. The creature let out a hissing noise, scuttled to the edge of the dock, and flung itself into the water with a loud splash.

As Hinto rejoined the rest of them, he said, “It’s just a dire crab, and a young one at that. They hate it when you hit their eyestalks. They’re timid enough, until they smell blood. Then they can be downright nasty.” Hinto chuckled. “Here I thought it was a monster.”

Diran and Ghaji exchanged looks. It seems there was no predicting what would set off the halfling’s panic.

“Right… the crabs,” Tresslar said. “I’d forgotten about them.”

Ghaji turned to the artificer. “Is there anything else you forgot? Sea dragons? Cannibalistic merfolk?” He concentrated and the flames flickering on the surface of this axe died out. “At least we know there’s no one watching us. The light from my fire axe would’ve alerted them.”

“Not to mention making us perfect targets for any archers,” Diran said.

“I’m just glad you didn’t set fire to the dock with that thing,” Yvka said.

Tresslar, recovered from Ghaji’s rebuke, sniffed. “Whoever attached the dragonshard to that weapon did a decent enough job, but if you want to see some serious flames…”

“I’ll let you know,” Ghaji said.

The five companions continued walking and reached the semicircular entrance to Grimwall without further trouble. The stone door was down, and there didn’t appear to be any method of opening it.

Tresslar stepped forward. “It’s been a while, but since I’m the one who constructed the locking mechanism on the door…” He leaned his face toward the stone surface of the door and pressed his lips against it. There came the sound of rock grating against rock, and the artificer quickly stepped back as the door began to rise. When the door had receded all the way and the entrance stood open, the others turned to look at Tresslar.

“It opens with a kiss?” Ghaji said.

“From one of the original crew of the Seastar, yes.” Tresslar shrugged, his face coloring in embarrassment. “I used to have something of a whimsical nature when I was young.”

The five companions paused at the threshold of Grimwall, as if something should be said. Good luck, perhaps, or as dangerous as their separate missions were, perhaps a tentative goodbye, but in the end they simply nodded to each other and went their separate ways.