David Mcintee - The Light of Heaven

The room was designed for dubious pleasures and was flooded with the scent of Dreamweed. A man wearing a pair of leather trews and an open grubby red and black shirt, was helping the first of two women wearing only paint to climb out through an open window. They paused and looked on in surprise as Gabriella fenced briefly with the goblin before pitching it back out of the room, with a gaping wound in its chest.

The two slatterns hesitated and Gabriella gave the nearest one a shove towards the window.

"Don't stop. Climb out and run."

They made a quick getaway as directed. The man didn't climb out, but lifted a broadsword from beneath the bed. He was a little taller than average. His shoulders were broad and his collarbone, visible through the open shirt, was covered with the pink scarring that only flame could give. He had a youthful, angular face, betrayed by silver stubble. His eyes were clear and penetrating, the right one underlined by a scar, and his unnaturally white hair was tied into a ponytail by a leather thong.

"You're not Crowe, by any chance?" she asked, remembering what Warrigan had said downstairs.

"Might be." He looked at her askance. "You don't look like a whore."

"Is that meant to be a compliment, or an insult?"

"Just an observation. This is a brothel. I'd kind of expected to meet whores in it."

"Then you'll just have to be disappointed."

"Not necessarily." He hefted a leather pouch, which jingled. "I don't know how much they pay members of the Order, but I doubt it's so much that a little extra wouldn't come in handy."

"You can put that purse away, before I shove it so far down your throat you'll be dropping silver into the privy for a week." She pushed past him and glanced out through the window. "Come on, we're getting out of here."

"Good plan. Didn't expect gobboes this far out of the World's Ridge. I mean, God's hairy bollocks, but it wasn't the night I had in mind — "

Gabriella slapped him. "That's for the blasphemy. Just be glad I'm taking the mitigating circumstances into account."

He lifted the broadsword and levelled the wide point at her throat.

"And you just be glad that I'm taking the gobboes, and the need for as many blades as possible when running into said gobboes, into account." He lowered the blade, and nodded at the swords in her hands. "I hope you know how to handle that cutlery of yours."

"I'll bet you do."

She glanced towards the wall beside the shattered door as a creak came from the other side. She leaped across, burying one sword into the wall up to the hilt. When she pulled it free, the blade was slick with bile-like greenish blood and there was a loud crash from the landing. The plasterboard wall exploded inwards, a war-axe tearing through it. Gabriella dodged, using her swords to force the axe down into the floor. She kicked out at one of the muscled arms holding it, breaking the elbow loudly, then ran the creature through.

Crowe wasted no time in heading for the window but, before he could dive out, a lanky, snarling goblin swung into the room from the guttering at the edge of the roof outside, and caught the broadsword's edge in the face for its trouble. It disappeared with a burbling scream.

Crowe leapt out of the window and Gabriella followed. They dropped onto the awning that covered the Huntress' main door and from there jumped carefully to the ground.

"Let's get out of here." Crowe said as they reached the ground.

"First things first." She ran back into the barroom, cut down two more goblins and then sheathed her swords. Then, finding a few spirit barrels suitable for her purpose, she grabbed a crowbar and used both hands to provide the maximum possible force, levering off the lids of the barrels. She kicked them over. Neat spirits sloshed out and flowed across the floor of the tap room.

Crowe sneered from the doorway, slicing the arm from one goblin and kicking another in the groin.

"You one of those temperance nutters, girl? Think you need to get rid of that stuff? Nobody's going to be drinking it for a very long time. Unless you're concerned about the souls of the gobboes."

As if summoned by his words, another half dozen goblins swarmed down the stairs and several others emerged out of a back room, leaping over smashed furniture in their haste to get at the two humans.

"Oh, I'm thinking about the goblins all right." Gabriella smashed the lid off another barrel and grabbed a lantern as she ran for the nearest door, shoving Crowe ahead of her. "Not so much their souls."

Crowe understood immediately. "Oh, right. Good one. I like the Faith better already."

Gabriella turned and hurled the lantern back through the Golden Huntress' shattered doorway. It flew in a perfect arc, landing exactly where it would have the most effect. A soft whooshing sound heralded a blue flame that rushed out across the floor. And then there was the first of a series of explosions as the fire reached the barrels of spirit.

As Gabriella and Crowe ran, the Golden Huntress erupted.

Every remaining shutter blew off the windows and the walls visibly bulged outwards. A few goblins were blown into the corral and the lake in screaming pieces as the building's roof collapsed and vented roiling black smoke.

Gabriella kept going, glancing at Crowe as he ran beside her.

"That won't be all of them," he said. "And the rest will soon be coming for us."

"Keep running." She shoved Crowe ahead of her and made for where the Sword's horses were tied. "Can you ride?" she asked.

"I'm a horse thief, among other things; what do you think?"

"Pick a good one. Fast and strong."

Crowe approached a strawberry roan, calming it with hand gestures and soothing sounds, before mounting it. "Well, it's been… interesting knowing you."

"Don't think you're leaving the custody of the Faith yet, sinner. A little confession is good for the soul and I'm not going to let yours stay bad."

"Even if it kills me? You don't need to answer that, all right, love?" Crowe dug his heels into the roan's flanks and set off. Gabriella rode her mare right out after him.

She had to keep ducking as they darted through an avenue of trees, but soon they were galloping across open ground and she quickly caught up with him. "God's — " He broke off as she drew within arm's reach with a warning glare. "Now comes the fun part." He jerked a thumb behind him. Gabriella looked back and saw a dust cloud closing on them.

"Goblins."

"Sorry pet. We should have lamed or killed the other horses."

"They're innocent animals."

"Not any more."

Erak's first thought had been that the assassin had stationed men along his route to throw off pursuers, as the assassin in Kalten had done. This idea was quickly dismissed when, with a screech, a goblin leapt at him.

Still half-stunned, he shoulder-charged it, knocking it to the ground, then stamped on its head as he drew his sword. As he finished it off with a quick cut, one of the soldiers was shot from his horse by another arrow. Both Erak and the other soldier spotted the goblin archer at the same time, and headed right for him. The soldier got there first, his sabre taking the goblin's head from its shoulders.

Three more goblins ran in from their hiding places behind rocks, but Erak had killed one before it even raised its weapon, and turned to parry a cut from another. The creature was strong but not well trained and he got his blade under its arm and cut wide, disembowelling it.

The soldier killed the last goblin with a vicious backhanded swipe from his sword.

Erak paused to catch his breath and looked around for the man they had been following. There was no sign of him anywhere; just the rolling hills, rocks and the occasional tree.

"Damn."

The man had got away, but by now Warrigan would have led Gabriella and her troops too far from where they had split up for him to catch her trail again.