The Tomni'Tai Scroll (Book 1) Read online

  “Argh!” the man shrieked as he toppled over onto his face. Yeoj quickly took advantage of the moment and removed his enemy’s head with one final chop. It was done.

  The dark haired woman screamed and dropped the crossbow onto the counter in front of her. Pendonov sat there blankly staring at the dismembered man and weakly mouthed “Thank you,” to Yeoj.

  “We need bandages,” Yeoj ordered. Within moments a pair of women emerged from behind the counter. One was short and wrinkled with gray hair and the other was a young, vibrant red-haired lady. The older woman had a blue bottle in her left hand and some gauze in her other hand. Yeoj shot her a puzzled look.

  “This is an alchemical shop,” the older woman said in a creaky, yet spunky voice. She then turned to the young redhead. “Jenedina, make the lad drink this.” She handed the bottle to Jenedina.

  Jenedina knelt down, tucked her feet under her and pulled Pendonov up to rest his head and shoulders in her lap. “Drink this,” she coaxed. Pendonov shakily tilted his head to the bottle and took a couple of clumsy gulps.

  “You’re pretty, Jenedina,” Pendonov said with a sheepish grin.

  “What is it with you Merchant Guards?” Yeoj grumbled.

  The old woman motioned for Yeoj to join her at Pendonov’s side. “Help me with these,” she said. Yeoj stepped forward and took the bandages from her. “Lay his head down and keep his arm elevated,” she instructed Jenedina.

  Jenedina did as she was told and comforted Pendonov by stroking his hair with one hand.

  “Here, lass, give me the bottle and I will administer it to him,” the old woman said.

  “What is that?” Yeoj asked.

  “It helps with pain,” she explained.

  “Fine,” Yeoj commented has he held Pendonov’s wrist and straightened the arm out above him. Pendonov cried out and tried to squirm away, but Jenedina and Yeoj held him still. Yeoj turned to the dark haired lady. “Sebina, I presume?” he said.

  “Yes,” she said.

  Yeoj jerked his head in a ‘come hither’ motion. “Someone has to hold his arm up while I bandage it, honey. Let’s go.”

  Sebina promptly came over and took Pendonov’s hand in hers. Yeoj then went to work applying pressure to stop the bleeding. The first couple wads of gauze were soaked and useless in seconds, but the third did the trick. “Alright, now hold this here with one hand, but keep it tight.” Sebina did as she was told while Jenedina tried to keep Pendonov calm, and Agnes kept offering the bottle to Pendonov. Yeoj undid his belt and wrapped it around the bandaged wound as tightly as he could. Pendonov struggled, but he was much weaker now.

  “I have to go,” Yeoj said suddenly. “If I don’t get there soon, he’ll get away.” He leaned over and slapped Pendonov’s cheeks. “Do you hear me?” he shouted.

  Jenedina gently pushed him back. “He can’t hear you, he’s out now.”

  Yeoj shot her a confused look. There was a lot of blood, but not that much. Then he looked to the bottle and grinned. “To help with pain eh?”

  The old woman smiled and nodded. “I usually sell it to expecting mothers in their ninth month,” she replied coyly.

  “Clever girl,” Yeoj said. “Keep an eye on him,” Yeoj instructed. He looked to the intruders and considered changing into their clothes, but decided against it. His plan would not work now. His only hope was to get to Baldur’s Arms before Galion got suspicious and left.

  “We’ll be alright,” Jenedina said. “Words cannot express how grateful we are,” she added.

  “Pendonov told us everything over the last hour.” Sebina looked at Yeoj with a tear in her eyes. “My brother trusted Diggs,” she said quietly. “I trusted him.”

  Yeoj nodded. “I can’t stay,” he replied. “You are safe now. I will end this.” Sebina nodded, but said nothing else. Yeoj lightly patted her shoulder, picked up his sword, and ran out the door.

  The streets were dark now, except for the night lamps that dotted the city. Few people were out, and those that were failed to pay much attention to Yeoj as he sprinted through the streets, darting across alleys and cutting as short a path as he could to Baldur’s Arms. As his feet propelled him forward his heart pounded and his lungs burned. The buildings he ran past blurred by, as if he were the wind itself. When he turned the last corner a couple of minutes later he stopped and doubled over, clutching his side. He fought the urge to vomit and propped himself against a wooden barrel filled with recent rain water that had come from a gutter pipe.

  His chest heaved as he sucked in air. He stood up straight and put his hands on his head for a moment while he stared out at the blacksmith shop across the street. A horse drawn wagon sat in front of the awning that extended above a workbench and smelter. Yeoj strained his eyes against the darkness, looking for sign of activity. He couldn’t see anyone outside. The horses were standing in place without a driver. The cart itself had several crates already piled in the back. Presumably weapons meant for the garrison in Blundfish since it is closer to the borders and the soldiers there needed equipment.

  Yeoj looked up the rain gutter and gave it a testing tug. He reached back for his crossbow and then remembered he had given it to Pendonov, who had let Sebina use it. Yeoj cursed himself for leaving it there. That left him with a knife and a sword against Galion and possibly several others. He knew they would spot him as soon as he stepped out of the alleyway.

  He stepped back into the alley and thought. His breath was almost back now, and the stitch in his side had lessened considerably. Still, he couldn’t just rush the front door. He jogged back to the next block and then cut across a dimly lit side street. He figured if he could circle around to the back of the blacksmith shop, he might have a decent chance to surprise them.

  When Yeoj circled back to the street that Baldur’s Arms was on he could see that he was a few hundred yards away from the shop. He crossed the street casually, deciding that if he was spotted from this distance it would be better for him to act naturally than to be seen sprinting across the street.

  After he made it across he cut into the first alley on his right and picked his way through the shadows, getting closer and closer to Baldur’s Arms. He kept glancing upward, looking for any sign that a watcher might be above him.

  A door opened up ahead of him and out stepped a short, old woman holding a plate of fish bones. Yeoj froze, and backed up slowly to crouch next to a pile of rubble. The old lady set the plate down in the alleyway, mumbling something about cats, and then went back inside.

  As the door closed and the light disappeared from the alley, Yeoj caught a glimpse of something on a nearby roof. He remained still, watching. Nothing reappeared. Was he paranoid, or was someone watching him? Yeoj glanced around, but couldn’t see any easy way up to the roof. He would have to double back again if he wanted to check the roof, but that would cost him time he may not have.

  He got up and maneuvered to the plate of fish bones just as a whole group of stray cats came running in from all directions. He managed to get the plate without losing any fingers as the cats clawed and hissed at him. He glanced upward again and tossed the plate up. It spun through the air and clattered on the roof, making more than a little noise.

  A figure stepped into view, peering over the edge of the roof, his face hidden by a large hood. Yeoj broke into a run. An arrow sunk into a wall nearby, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t have time to engage this foe and risk alerting Galion.

  The man on the roof let out a sharp whistle. A second whistle answered from a roof on the left, followed by a third. Yeoj ran on, drawing his sword as a pair of men jumped down from the rooftops in front of him. He was too close to his goal to let them stand in his way.

  They each drew swords and came at Yeoj fast. Yeoj turned abruptly, kicked in a door to a different building and rushed inside. A pair of old women stood staring at him blankly as he ran past, followed by the two swordsmen hot on his heels. Yeoj grabbed a wooden chair and flung it wildly as he turned around to face his pursuers
. He caught one of the men in the shoulder, sending him crashing into the other. Yeoj lashed out and stabbed one of them in the throat, then he pulled back and ended the second with the wooden chair, crushing the man’s skull against the hard, stone floor.

  “Pardon me, ladies,” Yeoj offered as he rushed back out into the alley. The two old women remained silent, staring at Yeoj behind spectacles that reflected the candlelight in the room.

  Yeoj caught a glimpse of someone out of the corner of his eye and ducked just in time to miss an axe careening for his neck. The axe bit deep into the doorjamb and the would-be assassin struggled to free it. Yeoj turned back and stabbed the man with several quick strikes of the knife in the belly. Then he slammed the man’s head into the back of the axe head and ran on to the blacksmith shop.

  He arrived just as the shop’s back door opened. A large man stood there, holding a wickedly curved scimitar. Yeoj plunged his sword into the man’s chest and yanked the scimitar free. He pushed the man to the floor and scanned inside. He was in a small room used for storing coal, probably for the furnace in the shop. Beyond that was a narrow hallway that opened into a larger room. Yeoj could only see part of the room from where he stood as the rest was beyond his field of vision. A couple of kerosene lamps hung from hooks in the ceiling. They swung as someone moved around upstairs.

  Yeoj then focused on the large, brown skinned man sitting on a wooden stool near the front wall of the shop, holding a middle aged man in front of him by the hair, with a knife to his throat.

  “I think we can come to some agreement,” the large man said.

  Yeoj stepped in cautiously, pulling his sword free from the man he had just slain. He kicked the door closed behind him and used his wrist to throw the bolt to lock it. “I am not here to make deals,” Yeoj said solemnly. “I am here to kill you, Galion.”

  Galion chuckled and rose to his feet, nearly lifting the middle-aged man off the floor by his hair as he did so. Yeoj knew that Kuscans were big, but this man was well over seven feet tall. His head was clean shaven, with a tribal tattoo covering half of his face and the left side of his torso. “That’s too bad,” he said. “If you kill me, then you kill this man too.” Galion nodded.

  A man jumped around the corner with a crossbow in hand. Yeoj leapt to the side, landing atop the pile of coal as the bolt sunk deep into the door behind him. Yeoj peeked around the corner and clumsily threw the scimitar down the hall, but it caught onto the wall and fell short of its mark. The crossbowman reloaded quickly.

  Something crashed into the back door.

  “My men have you surrounded,” Galion yelled from the front of the shop. “There is nowhere for you to go.”

  Yeoj looked around for something he could use. Men were pounding on the back door. The lock strained against them to hold the wooden door in place. The kerosene lamp hanging from the ceiling swung wildly.

  Yeoj quickly grabbed a coal shovel and whacked the kerosene lamp with all of his might. The glass shattered, spewing the pungent liquid through the whole hall, but only the bottom half of the lamp broke. The top half with the burning wick swung back and forth on the hook, but did not fall.

  “Stop him,” Galion roared. “He’ll kill us all!”

  The crossbowman advanced, but Yeoj chucked the shovel at the lamp in the hallway. The shovel unhooked the lamp and it came crashing down on the wooden floor. The lamp shattered and this time the flame found the kerosene and ignited the whole back half of the building in a single whoosh! The crossbowman screamed in pain, dropping his weapon and running toward the front of the house. Yeoj was two steps behind him. The flames licked at his body and caught on his pants and tunic, but Yeoj was not daunted. He charged Galion madly.

  Galion slit the middle-aged man’s throat and dropped his body to the floor before drawing a sword and beheading the burning crossbowman. “I will kill you for this,” Galion swore. The pounding on the door started to crack and break the wood as Yeoj pushed forward.

  Yeoj ran in, jumping to the left when he reached the room, just under Galion’s first swing. Yeoj then ran to the far side of the room, taking another lamp from the ceiling and throwing it against the front door of the shop. As the flames exploded over the front of the shop, devouring the walls and floor, two club-wielders entered the room from the burning hallway. Their clothes and hair smoldered from the fire as they patted out a couple of flames and then searched the room for him.

  Another man appeared at the top of the stairs and ran down toward Yeoj. Yeoj rushed him and hacked at the man’s ankles. The man easily jumped over the swing, but had miscalculated his trajectory. He landed wrong and stumbled down the stairs. Yeoj sliced open his back and kicked him forward at the other three.

  The flames rushed up the walls, encircling all of the men and filling the top of the room with smoke. Galion was forced to crouch to keep his head below the smoke. Yeoj grinned and gave him a wink.

  Galion and the men rushed forward. Yeoj lashed out with a savage kick, catching one of the clubmen in the stomach and doubling him over. Then he swung left with his sword and caught the other clubman across the chest, opening a gash and spewing blood across Galion’s face.

  Galion sidestepped and wiped his face clear of blood before resuming his assault. Yeoj ran up the stairs, with Galion just a few steps behind. Yeoj looked around frantically, trying to see through the smoke that was funneling up the stairway. Some flames had found their way to the back of the second story. The building wouldn’t last much longer before collapsing in on itself, Yeoj knew. He caught a glimpse of one lantern hanging in the center of the upstairs chamber. He dashed for it, and took it down just as Galion reached the top of the stairs.

  “You have caused me a lot of trouble,” Galion growled.

  Yeoj wound up and threw the last kerosene lamp to the stairwell. It exploded on the stairs and the men below all started shrieking and yelling in pain. Galion turned to the stairs, now fully ablaze, and then back to Yeoj.

  “No way out,” Yeoj sneered.

  “I welcome death,” Galion sniggered. “For me it is only the beginning of new birth. I will come back to this plane stronger than before.”

  “Feel the heat, Kuscan?” Yeoj taunted. “There is no such thing as reincarnation. The only things waiting for you are the fires of Hammenfein. You best get used to this.”

  Yeoj stepped forward, gripping his sword with both hands. The smoke swirled around them as they each took turns striking and parrying. The flames grew larger, closing in on them as they danced amidst their swords’ songs of death. Wood creaked and cackled as the structure lost its strength.

  The two of them panted furiously against the decreasing oxygen in the room. The smoke grew thicker, slowing both fighters down the harder they breathed. Yeoj could feel his strength leaving him as the heat filled his lungs with each breath. His vision was starting to blur, and not just from the smoke. He could barely see Galion’s face, but he kept swinging his sword. Sweat poured down his face and neck. His pants spurted into flame occasionally, but never fully caught fire. A quick shake of the threatened limb would put the fire off of him again. Galion seemed to be slowing as well, and becoming less coordinated.

  The screaming below had ceased, and the flames were coming up now through cracks and spaces between the floorboards. Still, Yeoj pressed on. He kept swinging and thrusting, but Galion always managed to deflect.

  Then, all at once Yeoj was on his back. He wasn’t sure how it had happened. Galion stood over him with a wide, toothy grin. Yeoj felt the heat from below ripping at his back. Then, a resounding crack tore through the shop. Yeoj felt weightless as the floor below him fell from under him and the walls twisted and warped inward. Galion yelled in defiance as the flames rose up around them both. Yeoj barely felt the impact on the ground floor before it too gave way and sent them both to the large basement beneath.

  Yeoj’s senses rushed back to him in an instant as cool water encompassed his body. His back and head hit a solid surface, forcing the a
ir from his lungs and compelling him to lurch upward. He gasped for breath and wiped his face. He quickly scanned his surroundings and realized that he was sitting in a large, iron basin filled with water. To his left was a huge, empty furnace and in front of him were racks with newly minted swords, shields, and spears. He turned to his right and saw a heavy workbench with several hammers and tongs strewn across it. Floorboards and other beams blanketed the entire room with red hot embers and billowing smoke.

  Then there was the heat. The water had temporarily given him a reprieve, but now it blasted him as though he were in Hell’s Gate itself. He quickly dunked his body under the water again and came up, searching for Galion.

  He saw the large Kuscan on the floor, with several gashes along his back and a pile of burning wood across his waist and legs. Yeoj jump over the side of the basin, and grabbed a hammer from the workbench. He brought it down on the Kuscan’s skull, ensuring the job was done. Then he looked around for a way out.

  Another section of the floor above collapsed inward, burying the ladder that led up from the basement. The commotion parted the thick, black smoke enough for him to see the area above. Yeoj turned, scanning the area, but found no easy way out. The roof had collapsed and was propped precariously by the few sections of wall that remained strong against the fire. There didn’t appear to be any hand holds that weren’t already ablaze either. Then he looked back to the furnace. He ran over to it and started clearing old, dead ash from it. A few large beams crashed down into the water basin he had landed in, sending water everywhere, mixing steam with the smoke and ash as the flames hissed in protest.

  Yeoj crawled inside the large kiln and looked up. He couldn’t clearly see the night sky through the chimney, but it did look big enough for him to try to escape through. Yeoj mouthed a silent prayer, placed his back against one side with his feet pressed into the stone in front of him. Then he placed his hands to the side and started to shimmy upward. The stone around him was hot, searing his fingers and stinging his back, but he knew it was either this or certain death in an imploding oven.