Paul Kemp - Shadowbred

Panicked citizens thronged the streets, rushing up Yhaunn's slope for higher ground. At the same time, groups of Watchblades tried to move down the slope and control the chaos. Others fired crossbows into the kraken. It was like throwing pebbles at a dragon.

The earthen ramps that led from one tier to the next filled with terrified people. The low stone walls that lined the edges of the ramps did not prevent the mob from forcing a few people over to fall to their deaths.

At the harbor, a trio of wizards zipped about in the air above the kraken, raining fire, lightning, and glowing bolts of energy onto its body. The spells seemed not to trouble the gargantuan creature. Groups of armed men, wizards, and priests gathered here and there and started down the slopes. The city was organizing its defenses rapidly.

For Cale, all the connections suddenly fell into place, all Mask's words. The Shadovar commanded the kraken and the kraken was no longer bonded to the Source. The Shadovar therefore had the Source. For what purpose, Cale could only guess. And only one man alive had previously contacted the Source and lived-Magadon. Mask had told Cale that Sembia's fate was tied to Magadon. Tamlin had thrown in with the Shadovar.

But there was more.

The kraken shrieked again and the sound sent hundreds of panicked people roiling forward. Cale saw many citizens cowering on rooftops, swimming through the debris.

He turned to go back to the Hole-he still had to get Endren out-but stopped. He watched another building topple, watched a woman get crushed between a floating timber and the side of a building.

He had to help.

He shadowstepped to the entrance of the Hole. Riven had the gate open. Skelan was eyeing the passage.

"Magic doesn't work beyond the gate," Riven said, then noticed Cale's expression. "What is it?"

"The Shadovar have Magadon," Cale said to Riven.

Riven's eye narrowed. "The Shadovar? How do you know?"

"The kraken is destroying the city. The Source is gone."

The words took a moment to register with Riven. "The gods-damned kraken? Dark and empty!" He looked into Cale's face. "Let's go have a chat with these Shadovar."

Cale nodded. "Afterward. We get Endren first. How many men do you need?"

Outside, the kraken's shriek again split the night. The whole city shook under its onslaught. Cale got a disturbing mental image of all of Yhaunn sliding down the quarry's slope and sinking into the sea, just as Sakkors had slid off its floating mountaintop to lie in a heap.

"What do you mean?" Riven asked. "What are you going to do?"

The shadowwalkers watched them closely.

"Help get some people out of the way of that monster," Cale said. "How many do you need to get Endren?"

Riven stared for a moment at Cale, then turned to Phraig and grabbed him by the shirt. "How many guards are down there, you little pissdrip?"

Phraig stuttered, finally managed, "A score and a half,"

"How far is Endren?"

"Not far," Phraig said.

"Not far and thirty guards," Riven said, considering. "Leave me half."

Cale nodded. "Nayan-you, Erynd, and Dahtem are with me." To Riven and the shadowwalkers, Cale said, "Kill only if you must."

Riven frowned.

"Only if you must," Cale repeated.

Riven looked into his eyes and nodded.

"If we are not out in half an hour…" Riven started.

"We'll come in after you," Cale finished.

"If we're not out in a half-hour, there won't be anything to come after."

Cale nodded, and the First and Second clasped forearms. Then Cale, Erynd, Dahtem, and Nayan moved through the shadows to perch on nearby rooftops. From there, they got a full view of the destruction.

Squads of Watchblades rolled ballistae down the streets, forcing them through the ocean of terrified citizens, trying to get a shot at the kraken. Meanwhile, more than a dozen wizards flew in the air above the harbor, firing destructive energy at the creature. Entire platoons of Watchblades perched on the edge of one of the lower tiers, firing clouds of crossbow bolts.

The huge creature shrieked again and the entire city rumbled. A tower collapsed in a pile of dust and falling stone. Two tentacles rose into the air, flailing for the wizards. The enormous limb struck a wizard and he spun into the harbor, broken and lifeless.

"Pull out any trapped citizens," Cale said, pointing at stranded women, children, and men cowering on rooftops or in alleys. "Get them to higher ground."

Nayan looked at him, a puzzlement in his dark eyes. "That is not our way," he said.

"It is now," Cale replied. "Do it."

The shadowwalkers nodded, and all four men rode the shadows down to the harbor.

Riven put a punch dagger against Phraig's back.

"Do you have a wife, boy?" Riven asked him.

Phraig hesitated, but a prod of the blade elicited a nod.

"Here it is, then. We're going to move fast. You're going to tell anyone we see that everything is fine. That will keep you alive for your wife. You say anything I don't like or slow us down and my steel finds your kidney. You'll bleed to death in less than a thirty-count. Your wife will grieve for a while but she's probably a young woman. She'll find another husband while you rot in the ground."

Phraig looked Riven in the face, defeat in his eyes.

"Understood?" Riven asked.

"Understood," answered Phraig in dull tone.

Riven knew his team's survival depended entirely on speed and surprise. He intended to leave the guards in the mine no time to think, no time to plan.

"Let's go," Riven said to his group.

The moment they stepped through the gate, Riven felt something go out of him. The feeling may have been of his own invention, but he knew that magic no longer functioned.

The tunnel descended at an increasingly steep angle. Wooden timbers reinforced the ceiling. The widely spaced lanterns hanging on the walls left alternating patches of darkness and dim light.

"Two in front of us, two behind us, along the walls," Riven said to the shadowwalkers. "Stay dark."

He had seen the shadowwalkers operate. With or without magic, they were the best he'd ever seen in wearing the night.

Shadem and Vyrhas hugged the wall to his right, Dynd and Skelan to his left. As he expected, they merged with the darkness of the corridor. Their footfalls made no sound.

Riven prodded Phraig with the dagger and they moved double-quick down the corridor. The shadowwalkers led them, invisible as ghosts.

"No surprises," Riven whispered to Phraig.

The young guardsman nodded. "There's a drop shaft ahead, with a lift. It… it's guarded."

"How many?" Riven asked.

"Two," Phraig said.

"Shadem, Vyrhas," Riven said. "Take them down. They live, if possible."

Ordinarily, Riven would leave no one alive behind him. But he had made Cale a promise, and as much as he disliked it, he intended to keep it. He clutched his saber in his fist. Its missing magic made the otherwise enchanted blade feel heavier than usual. He made no effort to mask the sound of his approach. Ahead, he could see that the tunnel opened onto a larger chamber.

"Talk, boy," he whispered to Phraig.

"Two coming down," Phraig called.

Riven hustled Phraig down the tunnel. It opened onto an irregular, rough-hewn chamber with a large hole in the center of its floor. A low stone wall circled the hole and a four-legged frame of timbers straddled it. Thick hemp lines hung from pulleys set into the frame, directly above the shaft. Riven guessed the lines to be attached to a lift at the bottom of the shaft.

Two guards with tired eyes stood near the lift mechanism. Chain hauberks draped their fat bodies. Blades hung at their belts. Their helms lay on the stone wall at the edge of the lift. Both looked curiously at Riven as he and Phraig walked into their view.