Steven Brust - Yendi

Then Aliera did something else, and the sorceress cried out as a blue glow began in front of her. After a moment it went away, but I could see perspiration rolling down her face.

Morrolan and Norathar had ignored all of this, and by now more than half of the enemy had fallen.

I spoke to Cawti out of the corner of my mouth. “Should we do something?”

“Why? They’re Dragonlords; they enjoy this kind of thing. Let them do it.”

“There is one thing I’m going to have to do, though. And pretty soon, it looks like.”

“What?”

About then Norathar broke through the line. The sorceress cried out and swung her staff, and Norathar fell over, clutching the air.

Cawti moved before I could do anything. She got through to her friend, somehow, and knelt by her side.

The ones who’d been fighting Norathar turned to Aliera, and she had to defend herself again. I took out a pair of throwing knives and, just to test, threw them at the sorceress. Naturally, they veered away from her when they got close.

I heard Morrolan curse and saw that his left arm hung uselessly at his side, and that there was red over the black of his cloak.

Aliera was still locked in some kind of struggle with the sorceress while holding off three guards. There was a sudden flurry near her as two more of them came at her. There was an impossible tangle of metal, and three of the guards were down. Aliera was still up, but there was a knife sticking out of her low on her back, and a broadsword actually through her body, just to the right of the spine, front to back, above the waist. She seemed to be ignoring it; I guess sorcery is also good for overcoming shock. But no matter how skilled a sorceress she was, her gown was ruined.

Norathar seemed to be alive, but dazed. This, it appeared, would be the best chance I had. I drew two fighting knives, then ran forward as fast as I could through ash up to my calves. When I reached the fighters, I watched Aliera closely, then ducked under a swing. I left the knives in the stomachs of two fighters who had no ability to deal with an Easterner rolling past them; then I was beyond the line, about four feet from the sorceress. Spellbreaker was in my hand before I stood up, and I swung it in front of me.

She had seen me, of course, and greeted me with a gesture of her staff. I felt a tingling in my arm. I screamed, and fell over backward.

“Vladimir!”

“ Stay there! ”

I opened my eyes and saw that the sorceress had turned away. I smoothly got to my feet, drew the Morganti dagger Morrolan had lent me, came up behind her, and brought Spellbreaker crashing down on the back of her head.

The effect on her was minimal, since she’d had some sort of shield around her; she jerked a bit and turned around. But, while the shield had prevented the chain from hitting her, the chain had brought the shield down. Before she could do anything there was the point of a Morganti dagger against her throat.

Morrolan and Aliera were dealing with the last of her defenders, but Morrolan seemed unsteady on his feet and Aliera’s lips were clamped tight with the concentration of holding herself together. Cawti was helping Norathar to her feet. I didn’t have much time, so I spoke quickly.

“This fight isn’t any of my business, and I’ll get out of the way if you give me what I want. But if you don’t tell me where Laris is, I’ll cut your throat—with this. And if you warn him, I’ll be after you as long as I live.”

She didn’t even hesitate.

“He’s on the top floor of a warehouse on Pier Street. Two buildings east of the corner of Pier and One-Claw, on the south side of the street.”

Shows you how much loyalty you can expect from the House of the Yendi. “Thank you,” I said, and backed away, still holding the dagger and Spellbreaker.

She turned away from me, apparently taking me at my word. She did something that was probably putting her defenses back up. At that moment, however, Kieron’s greatsword, in the hands of Aliera e’Kieron, swept the head from the last of the defenders.

Morrolan stepped forward, and a black streak came from the point of Blackwand and struck the sorceress. This, I was told later, took her defenses down again. And before she could do anything else, there was a sweep from Norathar’s blade and the sorceress’s staff went flying—and her right hand with it.

She cried out and dropped to her knees, and it was in that position that Norathar impaled her, directly through the chest.

There was dead silence in the room. The Sorceress in Green stared up at Norathar with a look of complete disbelief on her face. Then blood came from her mouth and she fell in a heap at the feet of the Sword of the Jhereg.

Cawti came up next to me. I nodded toward the three of them, standing around the body.

“Honor,” I muttered, “in the House of the Dragon.”

Aliera collapsed. Cawti squeezed my arm.

We returned to Castle Black, leaving the body of the Sorceress in Green where it was. I helped myself to a large glass of brandy, which I despise, but it’s stronger than wine and I didn’t want to suggest Piarran Mist; somehow this didn’t feel like a time to celebrate.

“She was quite an accomplished sorceress,” said Aliera weakly, from the couch where the Necromancer was working on her. There were nods from around the room.

“Vlad,” said Morrolan, whose arm was in a sling, “what was it that you did to her, and why?”

“She had some information I wanted,” I explained. “I got it.”

“And then you let her go?”

I shrugged. “You said you didn’t need my help.”

“I see.” I noticed Cawti holding a grin behind her hand. I slipped her a wink. Morrolan asked, “What was the information?”

“Do you remember that I’m in the middle of a war? Laris was backed by her, but he still has the resources to hurt me. He’s going to find out that she’s dead very soon. When he does, he’ll start coming after me for real—I have to make sure the war is over before he does. I figured that she knew where Laris is hiding. I hope she wasn’t lying.”

“I see.”

Cawti turned to me. “Shall we finish it up, then?”

I snorted. “Do you think it’ll be that easy?”

“Yes.”

I thought about it. “You’re right. It will be.” I closed my eyes for a moment, just to make sure there wasn’t anything I’d forgotten.

“ Kragar .”

“ Hello, Vlad .”

“ How’s business? ”

“ A little better .”

“ Good. Get hold of the Bitch Patrol. In exactly two and a half hours, I want a teleport block to prevent anyone from leaving a certain warehouse .” I told him where it was.

“ Got it, boss. ”

“ Good. In exactly one-half hour, I want the following people in the office: Shoen, Sticks, Glowbug, Narvane, N ’ aal, Smiley, and Chimov. ”

“ Uh . . . that’s all? ”

“ Don’t be funny .”

“ Have we got something, Vlad? ”

“ Yeah. We ’ ve got something. And I don ’ t want any mistakes. This ought to be quick, painless, and easy. So get everyone there, and make sure the sorceress you find is competent. ”

“ Gotcha, boss .”

The contact was broken.

Cawti and I stood up. “Well, thank you for the entertainment,” I said, “but I’m afraid we have to be on our way.”

Norathar bit her lip. “If there’s anything I can do . . . ”

I looked at her for a moment, then I bowed low. “Thank you, Norathar, and I mean that sincerely. But no. I think, for the first time in months, everything is under control.”

We left them and went down to the entry way, where one of Morrolan’s people teleported us back to my office. This time I made sure to warn them we were coming.