The Tomni'Tai Scroll (Book 1) Read online

  “Yes, I heard what happened. The assassins were slain the day before the festival, and Theodorus was arrested and hung in the city square.”

  “He was here you know,” Gandle commented. He looked up to Talon. “My cousin apparently feared for my safety. So she sent the officer here to offer me protection.”

  “You let him live?” Talon arched a brow.

  “I did. But, you may feel free to dispatch him if you come across him.”

  Talon nodded slowly. “His interference destroyed Raimus’ organization. I wouldn’t mind paying him back for that.” Talon glanced to the window as a pigeon came in to land on the sill. “Still, he can’t be all that clever if his investigation stopped with Theodorus.”

  Gandle smiled slyly. “Well, if you ever meet Captain Kelden Ferryl, you are free to match wits against him.”

  “I will remember the name,” Talon vowed.

  Gandle tapped the table and brought Talon’s attention back to the severed finger. “With Kai and Captain Lador out of the way, we are free to set this plan in motion anew. I will call General Tehrigg in to help us crush the Shausmatian threat you have created. Meanwhile, you will remove my cousin.”

  “And then you can assume the role of the great avenger.” Talon clapped his hands together and smiled wide. “That sounds lovely, but what about your contact in Shausmat? Tell me why he would risk his life to work in this endeavor with you if you are just going to chase Tehrigg back into Shausmatian lands with nothing to show for the struggle?”

  Gandle smiled wide, his lips drawing tightly across his bony face. “Ah, well let’s just say that my contact would use the whole debacle as a means to dethrone Sarito.”

  “I see,” Talon said with a nod. “You become king of Zinferth, your friend becomes the ruler of Shausmat, and Tehrigg lives out the rest of his life as a retired governor somewhere in the lush countryside, far from this blasted desert.”

  “It is a clever plan,” Gandle commented. “Even you have to see its beauty. Imagine the possibilities.”

  “It just might work,” Talon said. “Do you have the information I requested about the scroll?”

  “Yes, I have it here.” Gandle produced a folded, brown parchment from his robes. “This is a list of key people that you will need to find. Next to each name is their location. Next to the location is the name of the artifact they possess. I do wish you all of the success in the world, young man. You will need it.”

  “I will look after myself,” Talon assured him.

  Gandle sighed. “I myself once yearned for this scroll, and the power it promises to unleash, but there is no way to get through its guardians. You are on a fool’s errand, mark my words.”

  “Many things that are impossible for the average man, are merely warm-up exercises for me, old man,” Talon shot back.

  “Bah,” Gandle dismissed with a shake of his head. “If it were possible to get the scroll, I would have gotten it myself. Long ago, when I first learned of it, I thought it would be the key to overthrowing my cousin, but I was sorely disappointed. I swear I wouldn’t give the information to you if I thought there was even half a chance that you could succeed in unlocking the scroll’s power.”

  Talon looked over the information very carefully and then smiled wide. “I do appreciate this.” Talon pushed the list into his black, leather boot. “You have saved me a lot of time. It could have taken years to collect this information by myself.”

  Gandle nodded knowingly and gestured to his library. “It took me roughly thirteen years to uncover the information on that list. Are you sure you won’t reconsider? You would do better to work with me after my cousin is deposed. I could use a man of your talents,” Gandle stated.

  “I am not for hire to anyone anymore,” Talon said with a shake of his head. “Besides, you seem fairly confident that the war will go exactly as you have planned, so there is no need for my further services.”

  “Remember, you did say that you would kill my cousin,” Gandle reminded with a finger pointing at the assassin. “So just be sure to finish that before you go off looking for this scroll and get yourself skewered on an elfish blade.” Governor Gandle chuckled and waved for Talon to leave.

  “Actually, I have a different idea,” Talon said. He whipped out his sword and plunged it into the thin, frail man in the chair. Governor Gandle’s eyes went wide and his mouth fell open, but no sound came out. Talon leaned in close to Gandle’s ear and whispered. “You are no longer of use to me alive. Your cousin will live for now, but you need to go.”

  Talon withdrew his sword and pulled a note from his pocket. He placed the note over the governor’s face and smiled at his handy work. “Your death will be the spark that lights the fires of war in your cousin’s heart. First an attack at Hart’s Bridge and then her cousin murdered – she will cancel all trade movements and demand the imperial army wipe Shausmat from the map.” Talon slid his sword back into the sheath. He then grabbed the finger and ring and exited through the window. He was so hasty that he did not see Governor Gandle’s shaky hand stretching out for a small, brass bell.

  He drew his hood over his face and slipped away through the nearest alleyway, careful not to draw any attention to himself until he got to the southern gates of Rasselin. Once there he showed the guards the letter from the governor to the queen. The guards were quick to give him a horse, food and water, and allow him to pass through the gate.

  *****

  Kai stood in an alleyway behind the governor’s manor. He scanned the grounds inside the fence, watching the guards as they made their rounds. He wanted to get the timing of their foot-patrols so that he could jump over the fence, scale a wall, and enter through a second-floor window without being caught.

  He waited in the alleyway for almost two hours before he felt like he was sure of the guards’ patterns. He selected the perfect window. Some of the stones jutted out enough to offer handholds while a strategically placed cedar tree would cover his ascent from being seen. He started to make his move, checking one last time for guards, but then the window he wanted to use opened. Kai backed into the shadows and watched intently. A man emerged from the portal and scaled down the wall as if he was more spider than man. Kai squatted down lower, not wanting to be seen by the man.

  The man sprinted across the yard and leapt over the fence, his sand-colored cloak floated behind him gracefully, but Kai was unable to see the man’s face in the waning twilight. The stranger was so fast, that when Kai blinked, he was gone. There was no sign of him at all. Kai sprang into action. He had to know what this man had been doing.

  He jumped the fence, and dashed across the grass toward the wall. He leapt up, running up the wall partway and grabbing hold of a small ledge with his left hand. He pulled himself upward and grabbed the windowsill with his right hand and lifted himself high enough to peer into the room. The walls were lined floor to ceiling with bookshelves. On one side of the room there was a fireplace facing two red armchairs, and in one of the chairs there was a man with a piece of paper covering his face. Kai noted blood dripping to the floor.

  He pulled himself through the window and silently ran over to the chair. He pulled the note from the man’s face and stood there, stunned. It was Governor Gandle. Kai then noticed a bell in Gandle’s lifeless right hand. He looked back to the window, trying to guess who it might have been. Perhaps it was someone connected with Sebina’s kidnappers. He started to unfold the note.

  “Compliments of King Sarito,” Kai read from the paper. “That doesn’t make any sense,” he said to himself. “Why would he send an assassin for Gandle?” Kai jumped as the door opened and in walked a well-dressed man.

  “I heard the bell milord and…” the servant froze in his tracks and looked from Kai to Governor Gandle’s body.

  Kai patted the air with a hand and shook his head. “No, wait!”

  “Guards!” the servant yelled. “Guards, there is a murderer in the house!”

  Kai ran for the window. Just as he
clambered through the opening his hand caught on a jagged curtain hook and he fumbled the murder note on his way out. He started to turn back for it, but several muscular guards burst into the room, shouting and ready for battle. Kai jumped to the cedar tree and made for the fence as fast as his legs would carry him.

  Within minutes Kai was back at the dungeon. His stomach tightened and twisted when he realized that there was no guard outside. Something was terribly wrong, he could feel it. He pushed open the door and stopped in the entrance. Blood pooled just inside the door, flowing in a stream from a guard’s slashed throat in the corner. Kai took a step inside, hoping that somehow Lador was still alive.

  “You there, stop!” someone shouted from outside.

  Kai turned and saw several guards running toward him. He had to make a choice now. He knew that if he ran away he would still have a chance of escaping, but his loyalty to Lador was too strong. If there was any chance that Lador could still be alive, Kai had to find him. He slammed the door shut, quickly threw the bolt into the locked position, and ran for the stairs that led to the dungeon below. The knot in his stomach grew larger as he passed by two more bodies with crossbow bolts protruding from their necks.

  Kai leapt down the stairs, using his hand to steady his swift descent through the spiraling tunnel. He was running so fast that he almost leapt over Lador’s body before he noticed it. He fell to his knees and his mouth dropped open. His captain was dead.

  Kai closed his eyes and gently took Lador’s body in his arms. “Basei, be swift to take this man’s soul to your halls of rest,” Kai whispered. “I have failed,” Kai said through clenched teeth. He gently pressed his forehead to Lador’s cold face and whispered goodbye before placing Lador back on the stone floor.

  Kai rose to his feet as an empty coldness swept over him. A loud pounding sound echoed down from above. The ranger looked up and realized that the guards were breaking through the door. He had to find a way out. Lador’s sacrifice would be in vain if Kai allowed the guards to stop him now. He ran up to the hallway above just as the door burst open and several guards ran in. The guards stopped just inside, aghast at the pool of blood beneath their feet.

  “Halt!” one of them yelled, “You are under arrest.”

  “It was not I who slew these men,” Kai said.

  “You expect us to believe that?” another guard yelled. “If it wasn’t you, then who did it?” the guard demanded.

  Kai’s silence was enough to provoke the men into an offensive posture.

  “I will spare your lives if I can, but make no mistake, I will cut you down if I must.” Kai slowly, deliberately slid his sword out of its scabbard.

  “We cannot let you pass,” another patrolman roared.

  “So be it,” Kai growled. He closed his eyes slowly, allowing his mind to clear the recent events from his mind. Focusing all of his energy, he became one with his sword. He pictured the image of the man he had seen leaving Governor Gandle’s manor through the window. The cloaked man would have answers. Kai nodded to himself as he pictured the assassin clearly. He opened his eyes and fixed them on the patrolmen before him. These men were now nothing more than obstacles, preventing him from finding the cloaked man, and the answers about the human smuggling ring that had tried to take his sister, and presumably killed the governor, and his captain. Kai twirled his sword twice and then sprinted forward.

  The guards charged toward him, all of them wielding long-swords, typical of the Rasselin city guard. Kai watched them, studying their every move as they ran towards him. He mentally noted exactly how many steps would be taken before they would clash with him, but he had something else in mind. He sprinted faster, gaining momentum until there were only three yards between him and the guards, and then he sprang left, up the wall. He ran across the stone, above the guards and then dove down into the group. His sword slashed out and caught one guard’s thigh. His left foot struck out, slamming another guard in the face. He rolled as he hit the ground, swiping his sword across the hamstrings of two more guards and then he used his momentum to propel himself into another leap, this time he barreled head-long into the fifth patrolman, slamming him into the opposite wall.

  Kai’s left hand went to the guard’s belt and retrieved a knife. He thrust the silvery blade into the man’s sword arm, and then threw him to the floor. He wheeled around, his sword making a wide arc as he spun, and caught another guard across the chest, opening a shallow gash. Blood spewed out from the newly opened flesh and the man fell to his knees shrieking and clutching at his wound. Kai twirled his sword back into a defensive posture, fending off two attacks from other foes before he stomped his right boot onto the kneeling patrolman’s face.

  “I’ll get help!” a guard yelled out. Kai let his sword fly at the retreating guard. The blade whirled end over end and connected hilt-first with the patrolman’s helmet with a dull clank. The patrolman fell to the ground. Kai dove under a couple of swipes from the last two remaining guards. They both kept running towards him, swinging and chopping their swords as they came on furiously. Kai rolled down the hall, narrowly missing the crashing steel with each turn of his body. Finally he was able to tuck his right leg under him and launch farther down the hall. He wasn’t near any weapons, but he had enough time to stand before the last two guards reached him.

  The ranger turned sideways as a sword was thrust his way. Then he stepped back to avoid another swing. The guards launched a series of swings and thrusts but Kai twisted, ducked, side-stepped, and jumped out of reach of every strike. Then he went on the offensive. He launched out with his left hand and caught the guard on his left by the wrist. Kai pulled the guard closer as he gracefully spun around the guard’s back. The move forced the other patrolman to swing his sword directly into the wall to avoid hitting his partner. Sparks flew as steel grated across stone. Kai landed a devastating kick to the other patrolman’s head, sending him crashing into the wall after his sword. Then, Kai yanked his left hand down and put his weight onto his captive foe’s arm. The guard tried to resist but his bones snapped within moments and he fell to the floor, screaming and holding his arm. His sword fell to the ground and Kai picked it up. The game was over.

  Kai tossed the guard’s sword away and retrieved his own as he neared the exit. “There is no turning back now,” he muttered to himself.

  He pushed through the broken door and gazed out at a few passersby who had seen the whole encounter. They pointed at him, but nobody said a word. With each step Kai took, the people backed away slowly, as if staring down a rabid dog in the street. He looked up and down the streets, pondering where he should go to find clues about the cloaked man. His thoughts were cut short as the bystanders started to scream for help. Kai grunted and sprinted down the street. He would have to think later, for now he had to find a way out of the city if he wanted to survive.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Kai slid the window up and clambered through. The streets were dark now, covered by the blanket of night, so he was confident no one had seen him duck into the alley next to Captain Lador’s house. Once inside, he pulled the window closed and made for the hatch that led to the cellar. He quickly picked the lock and descended the ladder.

  Once he pulled the hatch closed above him he felt around for the lantern for a few seconds. He knocked his knee into the corner of a table and stifled a curse. Then, upon finding the lantern he slid his hand over the table for the match box. Luckily, Lador had always kept it on the same table as the lantern so it was easy to find. The match hissed and spat as he struck it and lit the wick inside the lantern. The yellow light exploded into the windowless room, forcing the darkness into shadows behind the various crates and sacks in the cellar.

  Kai turned, looking for the large desk. He spied it in the far corner and went straight to it, kicking aside a small wooden bucket filled with cobwebs. He pulled the front drawer and shuffled through the papers.

  The hatch above the ladder squealed in protest as someone opened it. Kai extinguished the
lantern between his thumb and forefinger and then crouched low beside the desk.

  Dusty light filtered in from above. A boot slowly came into view and landed on the top rung on the ladder.

  Had someone seen me? Kai wondered. A second boot soon followed the first and a form came down. Kai pulled a knife and waited silently, tempering his breathing and focusing on the person coming down.

  Kai watched the tell-tale brown cloak fall into the hole, it was a city guardsman for sure. Just as the intruder’s shoulders became visible the hatch was pulled shut and the room was dark again. Kai hadn’t expected that. Who would come looking for him without any light?

  Kai closed his eyes, hoping to force his eyes to adjust faster. When he opened them again, he couldn’t see anything. He strained his ears. He heard nothing. He pressed his back into the wall, slowly turning his head sifting the darkness as best he could.

  “Move, and yer dead,” a gruff voice warned.

  Kai froze. The voice came from his left, so perhaps the intruder was just trying to panic him.

  “I can see ya plain as day,” the voice said. “Yer back is against the wall next to a desk, and yer holding a knife in yer hand.”

  “Wait, I know you. You were at the inn a few nights ago, you helped me.” Kai guessed as he placed the voice.

  “Aye, put the knife down, and we can talk.”

  Kai sheathed his knife and reached for the lantern again.

  “Nah, leave that be, we can see just fine.”

  “My name is Kai,” Kai said as he set the lantern back on the desk and slowly stood. “We fought together, but I don’t think we were formally introduced.”