David Cook: Uneasy Alliances

"I see the patient is awake and comfortable." He looked up to see Entreri staring coldly at him. The assassin and the paladin had evidently reached some sort of conclusion, for they called the party to gather round. Noph sat up, feeling weak but alert.

Kern spoke. "Master Entreri and I have agreed that until we find the bloodforge, which is the source of all the madness around us, well cooperate." He spoke without emotion, but it was clear to Noph what it had cost him to make this agreement with a man whom he despised.

"When we find the bloodforge, however-"

"Aye, when we find it," interrupted Entreri briskly. "Time enough to think of that when it happens. Right now we need to be moving; we've wasted enough time here." He glowered at Noph, who blushed and tried to sit up straight.

Entreri turned back to the group. "Now, then. Does anyone have any idea where we are?"

Trandon shrugged. "Probably some other part of the mage-king's palace." He gestured down the corridor. "Fifty feet down that way, there's a fall of stone blocking the corridor. It probably came down when Aetheric broke out of his tank."

Entreri nodded. "Very well. That makes things simpler. There's only one way to go, so well go that way." He gestured in the direction opposite that indicated by the elder man. "Ingrar, you and I go first. Trandon and Kern form the rear guard."

"Hey!" cried Noph and Sharessa simultaneously. Entreri did not even spare them a glance. "In the middle." His mouth drew in a sour line. "Since you seem to have so much to talk about, keep yourselves entertained and stay out of trouble." He drew his blade and took Ingrar's arm to guide the blind pirate. "Right. Come on."

Sharessa sucked in her breath with an angry hiss and scrambled to her feet. "What's he doing in front?" she asked irritably, gesturing toward Ingrar.

"Ingrar seems to see blind a good bit better than the rest of you do with eyes," returned Entreri calmly. "I don't know what's going on with his sight, but as long as he can sense danger, he might as well be where he's going to do us some good."

Ingrar turned to Sharessa. "It's true, Shar. I can feel things I couldn't before. I… I don't know why." His voice faltered.

Shar was silent for a moment, then flung an arm around his shoulders and gave him a squeeze. She looked at the others. "Come on, the rest of you. Follow the blind man."

Noph rose, his knees shaking. The others spread out their formation and, without a word, followed the assassin and the mercenaries.

The corridor ran forward for some way, then bent to the right and ended at a large double door. The party gathered before it, and Entreri pulled the handles in vain.

"Locked." He shrugged. "Kern, you and Trandon have a go at it. This is a situation that seems to call for more strength than brains."

Kern snorted angrily, but he and the fighter pulled at the massive wrought-iron handles. The doors, however, remained obstinately closed. Shar and Noph joined the effort but without success. Finally Entreri turned to Ingrar. "Can you do anything?"

The young man stepped forward, his fingers running delicately over the ironwork tracery that covered the doors. He touched the lock, tapped it once or twice, then bent, putting his ear next to the metal. "Shar, give me a hairpin."

Silently Sharessa drew a long, lethal-looking pin from a pouch at her belt. Ingrar accepted it and thrust it into the lock, probing carefully.

"Hurry," urged Entreri.

Ingrar gestured irritably. "The less noise you make, the more I can hear and the faster this will go."

Noph shivered. He felt a creeping sense of unease. He strained his eyes, staring back along the corridor they'd come from. Beyond the bright circle cast by their torches, he could see nothing, but the sensation of dread increased. He noticed that Trandon was also staring into the darkness, a look of intense concentration on his face.

Sharessa had taken a torch from Artemis and stood near the door, holding it high. Entreri stood near her, his shadow streaming along the floor.

From the blackness of the corridor, a piece of the darkness detached itself and leaped upon Entreri's shadow. There was a deep gurgling sound, like a thirsty man taking a deep drink of ale. The assassin's shadow darkened, solidified, and rose.

A second Artemis Entreri stood in the torchlight staring at them.

Noph couldn't tell if the startled cry had come from his own throat or from one of the others. The false Artemis matched it with a wild scream of battle fury and, drawing its sword, rushed upon its diminutive double. The master assassin barely had time to parry in a flash of skirling metal. The twin figures circled each other again and again, blades flickering in the torchlight in a deadly dance. The rest of the party stood silent, as if paralyzed.

The duo broke apart, one with a thin line of red trickling down one cheek. "Damn you, do something," he shrieked at his companions.

Sharessa, standing closest to the battle, had already drawn her sword and brought it to the guard position. Now she stood hesitating, staring at the double image before her. Sweat trickled down her brow.

"Damn it!" she muttered. "Which one's real?"

One Artemis shouted, "Come on, Shar! Finish him!" Shar's sword came back in preparation for a sweeping stroke, then halted again. Now the other Artemis chuckled.

"Good judgment, Sharessa. Now take care of him and well finish this."

Again the female pirate's muscles tensed, then slackened. The others in the party stood silently watching her. Noph marveled at the brilliance of the swordplay between the two Artemises. It was plain that the shadeling had imitated Entreri's prowess as well as his appearance. The two fighters closed in a tight circle, neither willing to give ground. The echoes of their blows resounded weirdly down the corridor into an unfathomable distance.

Now the two broke apart again, each searching for an opening. But this time, Sharessa hesitated no longer. With a deep breath that was almost a gasp, she brought her sword across in a deadly, graceful arc. The head of the Artemis on her right leapt from his shoulders. His body stood upright for a moment, a fountain of blood spouting from the neck. Then, in a thin shriek, it dissolved into darkness. Noph thought he saw a dim patch of shade fleeing into the blackness beyond the torchlight.

The other Artemis sank to his knees. In addition to the cut on his cheek, his left sleeve was soaked in blood. He tore a strip of cloth from his shirt and bound the wound, using his teeth to pull the bandage tight. Then he glared at Shar, who hadn't moved since her victory.

"That was cutting it rather fine, don't you think?"

Sharessa started, as one coming out of a trance. "I couldn't tell which one was really you."

"How did you know which one to kill?"

The shapely pirate looked Entreri full in the face. "I didn't." She turned away to stand by Noph.

Ingrar had turned back to the door. There was a sudden snap as the lock gave way, and the young man stepped back, anticipating a possible trap. Nothing happened, however, and after a moment, the blind pirate gestured to Entreri.

The little man, still preoccupied with bandaging his arm, nodded to Kern. "Go ahead, paladin. Forward, in the name of Tyr!"

The golden knight straightened at the sound of his god's name, even in jest. "Forward, in the name of Tyr!" He drew his sword and pushed open the doors.

A warm current of damp air swirled about them, stirring hair over damp brows. The breeze had a strange, musky scent, redolent of a room long unused, in which some unnameable thing had been left to rot. Kern stumbled over a piece of furniture and gave a low exclamation that, uttered by anyone else, might have been taken for a curse. Then Trandon came through the doors, a torch in his hand, followed by the rest of the party.