Paul Crilley - Night of Long Shadows

“We have to warn the council.”

“No point,” said Xavien. “Once the elemental is released, it won’t stop ‘til it’s tracked down each and every one of them.”

“Then we have to stop Tiel from releasing it.”

“Good luck. Only Diadus knows where that will happen.”

Wren was heading for the door, Col close behind.

“Hey!” Xavien struggled in his chair, straining against the bonds. “What about me?”

“Don’t worry,” called Col over his shoulder. “I’ll send some watchmen up to take you into custody.”

Col closed the door, but they could still hear Xavien’s screams of outrage.

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.”