Dead War Unfinished Part One

The Dead War, Book One

The Four

The Archer and the Soldier

-1-

Buildings burned, people screamed… monsters roared. All was chaos in the streets of Hanover and he stood against the rampaging monsters, a man and his bow on the roof of a warehouse near the docks, sending what seemed at the time an endless array of arrows in all directions. But the building was on fire, she saw that from a distance and could see that he hadn’t yet. She ran toward him, trying to reach him, to warn him. The flames rose up the sides of the warehouse, engulfing it too quickly, blocking him from her sight. The roar as the roof collapsed beneath him, sending him plummeting to a fiery doom was a sound that would ring in her subconscious mind for the rest of her days. The scream that was wrenched from her own throat as she watched the building take him would echo for nearly as long….

She sat bolt upright in bed, the scream she choked back becoming a sob, her chest heaving and her body soaked in sweat so that her silk nightgown clung to her shapely form. She buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking as she let the emotions that particular dream always brought forth wash through her. It had been ten years since the death of her husband and still Natashiana Grasamere suffered nightmares about that horrible night. Certainly they came less frequently, it had been months now since she had had one like it, but she had almost been expecting it, feeling as though she was due another visit from an old friend that was more tolerated than liked.

“You all right?” asked a male voice that made her gasp, looking up toward the door of her bedroom. Kir’Gyle Zinn stood there, watching her with a mixture of concern and a desire he had never quite been able to hide on his face. He was a half-orc, the orc half being the red skinned jungle orc variety and his other half being high elf. The combination was striking, not exactly ugly but neither was he handsome. Still in his early twenties he was well over six feet tall and while built more like the elven race that had raised him he had thick, ropy muscles cording his arms and legs. He was practically naked standing in her doorway, wearing nothing but a far too brief pair of shorts which he apparently slept in. His torso too was well muscled and hairless, and she had to force herself not to stare. He had grown up a lot in the last ten years, since he had come to live in her orphanage shortly after her husband, Calistone’s death. He had started as Calistone’s apprentice, a young man who had been found as a stowaway on one of the many vessels that came into dock in Hanover. Her husband had rescued him from the wrath of an angry captain, given him a job and tried to teach him a trade. That had been only a little more than a year before his death in that raid. Gyle, as he was more commonly known, had stayed on in the orphanage after she opened it and continued to help out in the archery shop Tasha had run with Cal. She had continued to teach him what Calistone had taught her of bowyering as well, though she knew she would never be the equal of her late husband in that. Now the young half-breed, being too old to still live in the orphanage, lived here with her… though downstairs in a room at the back of the shop. The upstairs was her apartment, the one she had shared with Calistone. She had just moved back here a few weeks before, after turning the orphanage over to her foster daughter Sheridian to run.

His eyes, black on yellow, had always unsettled her and they were roving a little too openly over her now, quite obviously enjoying the way her nightgown was clinging to her. “I’m fine Gyle.” She pulled the bedding up to cover herself more fully.

He lingered in the doorway, those ominous eyes playing over her still and she knew that the blankets did little to hide the generous curves underneath. “That same nightmare again?” he asked, and while he tried to sound gentle and caring, his voice was something that came from his orcish ancestry, so it was always a basso rumble and sounded like a growl.

“Yes, but I’ve grown accustomed to it after all this time.” She met his gaze, letting a little anger creep into her expression. “You don’t need to come up here and check on me Gyle, we’re not roommates, you’re an employee here. The upstairs is my space… you’ve really got no business being up here.” His expression darkened for a moment, his temper being another aspect of his orcish parent, but he nodded and backed away from the door. He had never really made any secret of his desire for her, and Tasha had adopted the philosophy of using a firm hand against him. He was a talented young man, and would likely make a fine bowyer one day… but he would never be anything more to her than an apprentice and that caused him no end of frustration.

“I was merely concerned.” He growled from beyond the door, his voice fading as he headed for the stairs leading down to the shop level. Tasha heard his two hundred and fifty pound frame descending the stairs and when she was sure he had gone she flopped back against her pillows, blowing out a loud sigh.

The side of the bed where she had been sleeping was damp with her own sweat, so she scooted over to the side that had been Calistones, where she fancied she could still sometimes smell his cologne on the pillow. The damp nightgown proved a hindrance to returning to sleep however so she sighed in frustration and tossed the blanket and sheet aside, rising to her full six foot height and stretching, cat like. She raised her arms well over her head, bending her shoulders back and arching her spine, the thin material of the gown stretching taut across her high, full breasts. Her hair was a mane of mahogany tresses that hung nearly all the way to her waist and she reached up to run her hair through them briefly, separating the strands as much as she could so the cool night air might dry the sweat from her hair. Then she pulled at the nightgown, the lightweight material settling more comfortably as it pulled away from where it had been clinging to her voluptuous form.

“Tea.” She said softly, nodding as though it had been a foregone conclusion. She knew already that she wouldn’t be going back to bed so she padded barefoot and wearing only her nightgown from the small bedroom and across the sitting room into the tiny kitchen. She used the hot coals from the night before to stoke another fire to life, then set a kettle of water to boil atop the stove. While she waited for the water to heat she moved to the kitchen window which overlooked the coastal town where she had grown up. Hanover was not large, likely it would never be as there just wasn’t enough available property for much growth. It rested on the shore of the elven empire of Aldonia, stretching no more than two miles east to west and less than a mile from the ocean on the towns south side to the highest point of the town as it was spread up the side of one of the coastal ranges least steep mountains. Still, a lifetime spent trudging up and down that road had served to keep Tasha and her older sister, Kallysta in fine form, so they required little additional exercise over the years.

She leaned against the window frame, gazing out over the town and pondering the changes that had taken place in the last decade. Shortly after the raid that had made her a widow the Aldonian military had determined that Hanover was a strategically important military locale owing to its ability to take on the largest of the ocean going vessels. As such, a full garrison of armed soldiers had been assigned to their town. At the time, many people had thought this a good thing, the presence of the soldiers made them feel safe and secure again after the raid. But the man who had come to command them quickly changed that… for Tasha at least. His name was Lon Sneed, a human soldier who had defected from the human Empire of Errgaunt and now served the elven military in Aldonia. He had been assigned to Hanover largely because of his familiarity with the military tactics of the empire. It was believed that if Aldonia were to ever suffer an attack from a foreign power, it would most likely be Errgaunt that brought war, and Hanover was among the more likely ports to be chosen as a landing zone for any invasion. Thus, colonel Sneed had come to Hanover and Tasha’s life had instantly become more difficult.

Under the best of circumstances Sneed was a hard man to like, but when he first set eyes upon Tasha after arriving in Hanover he had made it quite clear that he intended to pursue a relationship with her, whether she wanted him to or not! For Tasha, who had just lost a husband and had also been fending off the advances of another unwanted suitor for years in spite of her marriage, a rival bowyer named Darian Dylaethe, the arrival of Sneed had just been another pressure that she didn’t need. Then, as if rubbing salt in a wound, a year later Sneed hired a well known mercenary to serve as his second in command. Rancyd Flynn was not a man whose reputation brooked a lot of trust in his attitude, though he was certainly a highly skilled warrior. A half-elf of human and high elven origin, he had come to Hanover with a reputation for brutality that was, by all accounts, well deserved. It had appeared that he and Sneed were friends before he had been hired and the fact that Flynn wasn’t even officially a member of Aldonia’s military had made his being hired for such a position an unpopular decision to be sure.

Tasha’s parents, the noble lords of Hanover, had tried to appeal to the military to replace not only Sneed but Flynn as well, but the higher ups in the armies ranks held firm that they felt Sneed was the best man for the job, and they were willing to give him quite a lot of leeway when it came to how he ran his garrison. Ragnor and Ayla Tulaetin were no more happy with the way things had turned out than was anyone else, but as they had little pull with the military their hands were effectively tied and Sneed proceeded to build a power base that now rivaled their own.

Tasha looked to the night sky, saw the moon that orbited Kyzanthia at its zenith and understood that the midnight hour had just begun. She started to turn from the window when movement on one of the towns streets drew her back. She frowned, her striking seafoam green eyes sweeping the landscape again, looking for whatever had gotten her attention. It had been near the base of the mountain, somewhere close to the docks. The Coast Road, which ran the width of Aldonia all along the coast of the Sea of Stars was the road that ran along Hanovers’ docks as well. It was there, near the edge of town that she saw a trio of people enter stealthily, keeping to shadows and moving with a purpose toward the center of town, where Main Street cut straight up the hill to Temple road, where her parents temple to the Goddess Gaea was located, along with her orphanage. The shop, and thus her apartment, were more centrally located and not on the main road but off one of the side streets.

Frowning deeper, Tasha leaned into the window, scanning the rest of what she could see of the town. Temple Road, which ran east and west out of town into the mountains, was several blocks up but was also visible where it entered town from the east, the same direction as the trio had come in on the Coast road. Though the view was more difficult here, Tasha could see more furtive figures slipping among the buildings and her heart started to race. This was how it had started ten years ago and she was damned if she was going to let it happen again! Spinning from the window she glanced about her small bedroom, deciding quickly what she needed to do. She thought briefly of donning her hunting leathers, which would provide more protection, but didn’t want to take the extra time to pull them out and get all the buckles and things fastened. Her only intent was to get outside to sound the alarm for the guards, to finally make them earn their keep in her town. For that she didn’t need to be prepared for combat, so she grabbed the first dress she came to in her closet and replaced the nightgown with it. It was an older one, from the days when she and Calistone first started dating and she had filled out some since then. The dress was light blue and a little lower cut than she liked to wear these days, but back then she had had occasion to want to turn a certain archers head.

Too concerned with the state of affairs in Hanover to care much for her appearance, she slipped on a pair of sandals and headed for the door. Again to save time because she didn’t want to have to explain herself to Gyle, she went out the back door of her apartment instead of down through the shop. Outside the door was a set of stairs descending the back wall of the building. Tasha took these two and three at a time, displaying a dexterity born of desperation. Her mahogany hair trailing out behind her as she went, the elf sprinted for the main road. She skidded to a halt in the mouth of the alley where the staircase leading up to her apartment was located, pausing at the corner of a building and leaning out to look both ways down the street, which stretched north and south through the middle of town, both up and down the hill. Toward the “top of town” she saw the same shadowy forms moving about and when she looked to her left, down the hill she was relieved to see a patrol of four of Hanover’s guards coming her way at a leisurely pace.

She thought of stepping out into the street to flag them down, but didn’t know if any of the intruders were nearby and didn’t want to alert them that they had been discovered. Instead Tasha waited in the shadows in the mouth of the alley, impatiently watching the patrol draw slowly closer. As they neared she was more able to recognize them, having interacted in some way with every guard in the city over the last ten years. As seemed to be the norm with Sneed and his men, this group consisted of humans, the leader a man she recognized to be Sergeant Brolin. He was a large, somewhat dimwitted ox of a man with a broad, fleshy face and a nose that had been broken too many times to count. They all wore chain mail, standard issue for the guards and carried swords on their belts and shields on their backs.

When they were close enough for her to call to softly, she said aloud, “Sergeant Brolin!” He started, his eyes widening as he turned his head and noticed her hiding in the shadows. They widened more when he noticed the tight, somewhat revealing dress she was wearing. His men had heard her call as well and were similarly eyeing the shapely elf. “There are monsters in town, orcs I think. I’ve seen them sneaking about in the shadows.”

Brolin stepped into the mouth of the alley and addressed her. “The only one seems to be sneaking about in the shadows is you milady.” He said and grinned, giving her a slow and very deliberate once over. “What are you up to?”

“Trying to save my town and your job!” she said hotly, angered at his apparent lack of concern.

Brolin laughed, glancing over his shoulder at his three men. “Here that lads? She’s concerned about us!” They all laughed and Brolin turned back to face her, “Nice that your concerned.” He took a step closer, “I can think of a good way for you to show your concern.” He reached a hand, index finger extended, toward the low cut neckline of her dress.

Tasha slapped his hand away with a scowl, “What are you doing? Hanover is about to be attacked you idiot!”

They all laughed. “We’ve been walking these streets all night lady, ain’t nothing in the dark going to attack us tonight. Been downright boring it has!”

One of the other guards, a tall and gangly young man with a horribly pockmarked face chortled, “Looks like things are looking up, ‘ey sarge?”

“Indeed they do.” Brolin agreed, reaching toward Tasha again.

“Are you drunk? “ she asked suddenly, realizing that all four men were a little unsteady on their feet and the younger one who had just talked was slurring his words slightly.

“Been passing a bottle, we have. Not much else to do on a quiet night!” Said the young one and the others nodded their agreement. Tasha felt the tip of Brolins thick finger sliding along the cleavage visible above her dresses neckline and sincerely regretted having worn the dress. “Till now that is!” He was grinning lecherously as he undressed her with his eyes.

“I don’t have time for this!” she said in an exasperated voice, slapping Brolin’s hand away again and moving to step around him, thinking she needed to find another patrol or wake up Sneed if necessary.

“You’ll make time missy!” Brolin growled and suddenly Tasha gasped in pain as she was yanked backward by her hair, the sergeant having grabbed a thick handful of it. The attack was sudden and jerked her off balance so she had little chance to respond as she staggered backward. She opened her mouth to cry out for help but Brolin’s other hand closed over it, clamping down like a vise. She felt his chainmail shirt, cold and rough against her back as he jerked her back against him, her head forced back over his shoulder as she was a few inches taller than he. His flabby lips brushed against her delicately pointed ear as he growled, “Been wanting to put it to you in the worst way for years!” His men laughed and Tasha suddenly saw gang rape in her immediate future… if she didn’t do something about it.

Since her hands were free and she was never one to lie back and be abused without a fight she reached up with her right hand and sunk her thumb into his eye to the first knuckle. She felt warmth flood out over her hand and he screamed, thrusting her away from him as he staggered into a wall. Tasha gasped again, staggering into the alleys opposite wall, throwing up her hands to keep from colliding with it face first. She half-turned, hearing the other three coming for her and saw that the tall one with the acne scarred face was closest. She lashed out, one long, shapely leg driving toward his stomach, but the dress she wore again betrayed her, the skirt proving too snug and it bound up so that her foot went no higher than his thigh. He twisted his hip slightly and her kick had minimum effect against his surprisingly muscular leg, but then she shouldn’t have been surprised, these men patrolled the steep streets of Hanover daily.

His right arm came down, knocking her leg aside and she was put off balance as she turned, raising a fist to aim at his face. He slapped the punch aside, then turned his shoulder into her and slammed her back into the wall. Tasha gasped again, the back of her head colliding with the wall hard and causing her to see flashes of light as her vision blurred. He was on her in a second, pinning her to the wall with his body. Tasha reached up and raked at his face with her nails, the guard growled in pain but merely grabbed her wrists in his large hands. Though slightly built, he was much stronger than she and a moment later he had her wrists crossed above her head, held in one of his hands and Tasha was still dazed from hitting her head.

“Damn you are the prettiest thing I ever saw!” he exclaimed, his face next to hers as he inhaled her scent then buried his face in her neck, his lips and tongue working at the base of her throat. Tasha felt bile rise in her throat and when his free hand dropped to her hip, then slid up her waist and caressed the side of her breast, squeezing it through the dress anger brought sudden clarity. Her hands were pinned, but there was nothing wrong with her legs other than a skirt that was a little snug.

Snarling in anger she brought a knee up into his side, her powerful thigh muscles flexing so the skirt tore up the side, clear to her hip. He grunted, wincing in pain as her knee found his lowest ribs, and while he moved his head back he didn’t let her go, so she did it again. This time she had the satisfaction of feeling a rib break and he staggered back, doubled over and clutching at his ribcage. There had been another guard standing behind him, waiting his turn with her and the fourth was across the alley, examining Brolin’s injured eye. The guard before her now was short and squat, not fat but solidly built with a bulldog face and heavy cheeks badly in need of a shave.

Tasha stepped toward him, driving an elbow down toward the side of his head, thankful he wasn’t wearing a helmet. To her surprise, the stoutest of the guards turned out to be fairly quick and he sidestepped her elbow then drove a ham sized fist into her gut, just above her pelvis. All the air left her lungs in a violent explosion and she sagged to her knees, retching but not vomiting. Again the muscular guard stepped up and drove a fist into the side of Tasha’s head, knocking her to the ground on her side. She moaned as the world exploded inside her head, her vision swimming and the world spinning about her. Her arms and legs felt like they weighed a hundred pounds a piece and when she tried to push herself to her hands and knees they wouldn’t respond.

“Bitch has got spunk, I’ll give her that.” The man growled, stepping up next to her and driving the steel plated toe of his boot into her kidney. Tasha cried out as the blow flung her violently against the wall and she collapsed in a heap at its base, barely conscious with tears burning her eyes. He was there again a moment later, bent at the waist and grabbed a handful of her lustrous hair, dragging her to her knees by it, keeping her arched backward painfully as he turned her to the side. “Thought I was going to have to take the kids sloppy seconds,” he chuckled and leaned in, his scruff shrouded mouth scratching her cheek as he growled into her ear, “looks like I’ll get to go first!”

Tasha was made to take two halting steps forward on her knees, feeling a few small rocks in the hard packed dirt floor of the alley digging into them as she was moved forward, then he slammed her forward swiftly and she cried out again, finding herself bent suddenly over a rough wooden crate. The rough wood scraped against her cheek as she turned her head to the side, facing the alley. She saw Brolin across the way, the side of his face soaked in his own blood which had leaked from the eye socket she had punctured with her thumb. Then she felt her arms jerked painfully behind her back and twisted almost to the point of breaking so that her forearms were held parallel to each other across the small of her back. The strain was horrendous and she had to hold her shoulders well back to keep the elbows from separating, which in turn thrust her breasts forward, straining the bodice of her already tight dress. She heard the unmistakable sound of a leather belt clearing belt loops and then she felt the leather, warm from his body heat, encircle her forearms and cinch tight. Then another unmistakable sound, that of a knife clearing its sheath.

She recoiled slightly when the tip of a large, sharp blade came to rest against her cheek, just below her eye. He leaned forward, his groin pressed against her rounded buttocks so she could feel the erection pressed against her. He wasn’t long, but he was thick and very hard. “Now, those of us here that are still able are gonna enjoy what it is you’ve got to offer, and you ain’t gonna fight us no more, or this might just slip!” He removed the knife then, lowering it till she felt the cold flat side of the steel against her calf, below the skirt. He slid it upward, tilted slightly so that the sharp edge scraped along her skin, hiking her skirt up as the knife scraped lightly up her thigh. “Damn but you’ve got the most gorgeous body!” The man chortled, then Tasha felt the tip of the knife come to rest against her abdomen, just above the hip joint where she was bent over the wooden crate.

The stout guards other hand was now questing beneath the skirt on her other side, sliding into the slit that had ripped when she kneed the younger guard moments before. His touch was grotesque to her, making her skin crawl, but she could do nothing against him so long as he held that knife there. His fingers found the hem of her undergarments and with a grunt of minimal effort he ripped her underwear right off her hips, the elf gasping slightly in pain at the way the ripping burned her sensitive flesh.

That was when she noticed the movement from the shadows beneath the stairs leading up to her apartments back door. At first she thought Gyle had heard the ruckus and come out to investigate, but when the shadow eventually detached itself from the murk beneath the stairs and he stepped into the wan moonlight filtering down into the alley she saw that it wasn’t Gyle at all and her heart sank to see the bum they had come to know only as Drifter stagger drunkenly out into the alley. By now the guard behind her had his pants open and his manhood sprang free. Tasha winced as it slapped against her buttocks, bare now that he had her skirt hiked up past her hips. He was large, though not overly long and as he was positioning himself to take her he glanced over, distracted by the sudden appearance of the town drunkard.

“You need to let her go.” The human mumbled drunkenly, pointing at the battered but not yet beaten elf. Drifter was a man whose age was difficult to determine under the filth and grime that came with living on the streets. He was tall, at least three inches taller than Tasha’s own six feet and his shoulders were broad, but any muscle or indeed any weight at all that might have been there ten years ago seemed to have wasted away with the alcohol and hard living he had subjected himself to. His hair was black and filthy, hanging in matted strings past his shoulders and largely shrouding his face, which was also largely hidden behind a beard. He wore rags that stunk of stale alcohol and vomit and were patched in multiple places, with holes in places that weren’t able to be patched. He had no shoes but he carried a slat from a broken crate he must have found under her stairs.

“Go away old man,” the guard behind Tasha growled, turning his gaze from the drunk dismissively as he positioned the swollen head of his penis against her soft nether lips, “come back in an hour and I’ll buy you a bottle of whatever you want!” Tasha didn’t know if calling Drifter an old man was accurate as his age was difficult to determine, but she quickly lost that train of thought as she felt the guard starting to move forward, her vaginal lips parting around his rod as he pushed slowly into her. She fought down a sob of frustration and anger, not wanting to move too much lest the knife stab into her. The guard didn’t get more than halfway into Tasha though before Drifter suddenly stepped forward, his stride a lot surer than it had been a moment before and swung the wooden board he carried in a swift, straight arch into the mans face. The board and the guards head connected with violent impact that flung him backward, out of Tasha and sent him tumbling across the ground. The elf, her hands still secured by the belt behind her, twisted off the crate and fell to her side behind it, her back to the wall, watching as the homeless beggar, whom she had never seen raise a hand to anyone in the five years since he had come to Hanover, proceeded to take the other guards apart.

The tall young soldier, having recovered somewhat from the initial shock of the broken rib Tasha had inflicted upon him stepped in and stabbed at the drunk with the longsword he had drawn from the scabbard at his belt. Drifter stepped to the side, the board circling down sharply and knocking the sword out wide, then he stepped in and drove the end of the board into the center of the mans ribcage. Tasha was certain the young guard would have screamed if he had been able to take a breath, but the blow had obviously shattered several more ribs and as blood frothed up on his lips, she realized he had a punctured lung. As he fell backward, Drifter snatched the sword from his hand and turned as the only guard yet to enter the fray, who had until then been seeing to Brolin’s eye lunged at him from across the alley. This guard was another human, about thirty and well built, though not as broad as Tasha’s almost rapist had been. He too had a sword in hand but Drifter seemed ready for him, stepping away and parrying the sword wide, then spinning and bringing the flat of the blade across the other mans lower back, hard, sending him staggering past the drunk. Drifter turned to face the guard as he came around, slashing at the air with his sword, expecting Drifter to have come in from behind and stab for his back, but the bum seemed too experienced for that.

As all this was happening, Tasha was squirming about behind the crate, bending her lithe form nearly in half in a remarkable display of dexterity. Her breasts were too large to allow her to bring her knees up as high as she would have liked, but they came up just high enough that she was able to shift her arms down, not without considerable strain and pain in her shoulders of course, and slipped her clasped forearms under her heels. She then slowly walked her feet back, pulling painfully at her arms the whole way, risking dislocating her shoulders she knew, but finally her arms came free in front of her and she raised the belt, using her teeth to work at the buckle where the guard had cinched her forearms together.

Meanwhile that final guard had chosen to approach this new threat carefully, realizing suddenly that Drifter was quite a lot more formidable than anyone would have thought possible. He kept a wary distance between them, his sword at the ready to parry any strike from the town drunk. Behind Drifter, Brolin suddenly pushed away from the wall and rushed the filthy human. Tasha, seeing this move, spat the end of the belt she was working on from her mouth and shouted, “Behind you!” Too late, Brolin caught Drifter in a crushing bear hug from behind, the sergeant being one of those men who was so powerfully built that when he flexed his arms their size seemed to double. The fourth guard, seeing what he thought was his opportunity, lunged in but Drifter pushed off the ground with his feet, using the surprised Brolin to support his weight as he lashed out with both legs, kicking the oncoming soldier in the chest and staggering him back into the wall. He rebounded off the wall, stunned but maintaining his grip on his sword and came back, swinging wildly at Drifter.

When he had kicked out at the soldier, the resultant impact had caused Brolin to stagger back as well and he carried Drifter with him as he backed into the wall he had been leaning against a moment earlier. Drifter flung his head back, cracking the back of his skull into the sergeants face and Brolin’s grip on him lessened. Drifter ducked, sliding out of Brolin’s bear hug through the bottom of his arms just as the fourth guard made his wild slash with the sword. The sergeant barely had time to gurgle in surprise before the blade sliced deep into his throat, nearly taking his head cleanly from his shoulders.

As Brolin fell away, sliding along the wall, Tasha finally tossed the belt aside and scrambled to her feet. The fourth guard, the only one still standing, looked at her then at Drifter and turned toward the street, sprinting away. Drifter started to go after him but Tasha called out, “No! Look!” She pointed and Drifter looked out to the street in time to see a pair of orcs in dark chainmail step from the shadows of an alley across from the one the elf had nearly been raped in. One of them raised a bow that, to Tasha’s trained eye looked rough but effective and sent an arrow into the chest of the fleeing guard. The arrowhead burst out his back, spraying blood back into the alley where it spattered at Drifters feet. As the guard fell, the orc drew another arrow and notched it to his bow string, but Drifter and Tasha, having seen the first target fall, dove for cover, the elf behind the crate that she had, only moments before been bent over and drifter behind the descending staircase that led up to her apartment.

The fired arrow came at Drifter, glancing off one of the stairs and skipping between two of them, scoring a deep cut on his shoulder as he ducked out of the way. He hissed, raising his free hand to the wound and pulling it away covered in crimson. The wounded shoulder was to the hand that carried the sword, so he lifted it, testing to see if he would still be able to fight. The orcs were both large, green skinned brutes with ape like snouts and large incisor teeth overlapping their upper lips. The one with the bow was reduced to one eye, which he seemed to aim with okay and had heavily muscled arms. The other was less muscular, his gut stretching the chainmail shirt he wore to its limits. He carried a crude battle axe in one hand and with a grunt he charged across the street, wanting some of the fighting for himself, and thus foiling the aim of the other orc.

The orcish archer growled something in his native language and moved to the side, trying to get a clear shot as the other orc barreled recklessly into the alley. Drifter stepped out to meet him, raising the sword he had taken from the guard to parry a swing from the orcs axe. The weapons came together with a ringing of metal and the homeless drunk staggered under the force of the blow, his wounded arm going numb as the orc raised his axe to finish the man. Tasha glanced frantically around and her gaze fell on the knife that the guard had been holding to her. When Drifter had hit him so hard across the face the knife had dropped where it was, near the crate. She dove for it, grabbing the knife and shoulder rolling, coming up in a crouch and flinging the blade. She was not great shakes at knife throwing, she would never win a contest, but Calistone had taught her the basics, sighting that learning to aim with a throw would help her aim with a bow. The orc had his axe raised for an over head strike and thus his arms were elevated. The knife caught him in the side, just below the armpit and he staggered, the axe suddenly falling from deadened fingers. Blood sprayed forth and Tasha realized she must have hit an artery as the orc staggered against the stairs and went down.

Out on the street the other orc raised his bow, again zeroing in on Drifter who he saw as the greater threat. Then Tasha heard the soft thrum of a bowstring being released, but it took a moment for her to realize it had come from the wrong direction. As the orc on the street fell with a feather shaft protruding from the side of his neck, she looked over her shoulder and up to see Gyle standing on the landing at the top of the stairs. He must have heard the noise and gone up to check on her again, then realizing she wasn’t in her room any more he had gone out the back. Unlike her, he had the presence of mind to bring a weapon. He was only partially dressed, having only donned a pair of pants and boots. He carried a handful of arrows in his left hand and his bow in the right.

Before Tasha could say a word of thanks to her late husbands former apprentice, Drifter said, “I smell smoke.”

Tasha lifted her head, her petite nostrils flaring slightly as she too scented the air. There was definitely the acrid smell of smoke on the breeze. “Come on!” she cried, leading the way from the alley. Drifter followed her with Gyle clattering down the stairs behind him.

-2-

They sprinted up Main street, Drifter, who was in nowhere near the physical condition of the other two quickly fell behind as the steep climb took its toll on him. Gyle, the most fit of the three was the first to the top of the hill and he called over his shoulder to the other two, “It’s the temple!”

“Great Lady no!” Tasha gasped as she too crested the hill and glanced over to see her parents beloved temple of Gaea engulfed in flames. The reason she had seen no other guard patrols out and about was quickly obvious too, they were engaged in a pitched battle with the other orcs that she had seen infiltrating the town earlier. The battle raged all along Temple Street with human guards going toe to toe with orcs in dark chainmail armor. Several men and orcs lay dead or dying in the street already, and Tasha saw one of the town guard lying nearby, a long bow lying inches from his hand where he had dropped it as he fell. He had a partially full quiver on his hip and without another thought she knelt at his side and retrieved the bow, then drew an arrow from the quiver.

Notching the arrow to the string she drew it back to her cheek, sighting down the shaft and aiming at the closest orc she could see battling one of the town guard. She let fly and felt a rush of adrenaline course through her as the arrow struck home, driving deep into the side of the orcs chest. The monster fell away and the guard, surprised at his sudden turn of luck turned to see her crouched in the street, just lowering her borrowed bow. He raised his sword in thanks and Tasha only then recognized him as Tanner Flynn, the younger brother of Rancyd Flynn, Sneeds second in command. The young soldier was fully human, making him Ranyd’shalf brother, and had only joined the guard force in Hanover a couple of weeks earlier. Tasha didn’t think he was more than nineteen, which she knew to be the minimum human equivalent age that a man could join the Aldonian military. She had figured that his brother had pulled some strings with Sneed to get his brother assigned to the town guard where he could keep an eye on him.

Behind her Gyle stood tall and straight, picking arrows out of where he had pushed them into the dirt at his feet. He had six left and let one fly from behind the elf, taking another orcish warrior in the side of the head and felling him in the street. “Nice shot!” Tasha complimented him, drawing another arrow herself from the fallen guards quiver. Gyle smiled as he too grabbed another arrow and this time they managed to both let fly simultaneously, Tasha’s arrow driving into the neck of an orc who was in the process of running a guard through with a spear while Gyles arrow went in the temple of another orc to burst out the far side, spraying one of its mates with gray matter.

“Watch out left.” Tasha muttered and Gyle glanced over to see that, sure enough, three orcs on their left had noticed them and were bearing down on them quickly. He drew his second arrow she her third and they let fly again, Tasha dropping the orc on the far left with a shot dead center of the chest while Gyle, still showing off slightly and no doubt for her, took the one on the far right in the throat. The one in the middle howled in victory as he realized he would reach them before they could shoot again. Tasha, having figured out the same thing, snagged another arrow from the fallen guard and dove toward the advancing orc, rolling right up to him and springing to her feet, driving the point of the arrow into his throat by hand. He staggered to the side, his momentum altered by her attack and Tasha kept hold of the arrow, pulling it from his throat and getting sprayed by scarlet pumped from his carotid artery. As orc blood dripped down between her breasts she notched the same arrow and fired point blank into his face. The orc fell away, dead before he hit the ground.

Tasha spun back toward Gyle, who had lowered his bow and was staring at her with wide, awe struck eyes. Her dress was torn, her hair disheveled, she had bruises on her face and blood all down her front… but he had never seen anything more sexy in all his life!

A scream from down the road drew both their attention and Tasha cursed colorfully when she saw a trio of orcs emerging from the orphanage, which was located next to the temple, dragging with them a trio of women. The one the elf recognized first was her adopted daughter Sheridian, who had no doubt been trying to protect the other two, whose names were Shelly and Brigit, two of the older and prettier orphans. They were each sixteen and in their last year at the orphanage, during which they were being taught a trade to support them when they left. The orcs had apparently gone into the orphanage seeking loot and discovered prizes they thought were better by far!

“Sher!” Tasha cried, frightened for her daughter who was struggling mightily against the orc that was dragging her toward the street. Sheridian was a half elf, the daughter of a couple who had been close friends of her and Calistone before they too had been killed in the raid. Sheridian had been eight then and was eighteen now. Tasha had always been fond of the girl, and was quick to officially adopt her when she had lost her parents. For the last two years, Sheridian had been doing the lions share of the work in the orphanage, which Tasha let her do in preparation for turning the whole thing over to her to run. Sheridian was wearing her nightgown, so she too had been in bed when the attack broke out, but the gown was ripped down the front and it looked as though she had been beaten, though perhaps not too badly. Tasha prayed the orc hadn’t had his way with her already, Sheridian was a strong young woman, but Tasha didn’t know if she could handle that.

The elven archer took a step toward the orphanage, determined to help her daughter and the other girls, but Gyle grabbed her arm and spun her back the other way. She started to retort angrily, but he pointed toward the temple and when she turned to look she understood why had done it. There were people emerging now from the burning temple, a quartet by the looks of it. A woman and three men, the woman slight of frame with long black hair that was smoking at the ends from having been in the fire. Tasha couldn’t see her well, backlit as she was by the flickering flames, but she could see the woman was slightly built and might be pretty. Next to her, his arm around her for support was a cloaked figure that staggered along, apparently wounded, smoke or… perhaps something else billowing out of his hood. As she watched, Tasha noted that whatever the smoky substance was, it was greenish in color and seemed to originate from within the hood of his cloak. Behind them came two more figures, one a large, powerfully built human with longish black hair and fair skin who carried something over his shoulder that Tasha realized quite suddenly was a person! On closer examination she realized that the person he was carrying was her mother! Next to this human, running along with a bag slung over his shoulder, was someone whose presence there made no sense to Tasha. His name was Jev, and he had been one of her fathers Acolytes in the temple for a number of years. As far as she could tell, he seemed to have joined with these people, whoever they were, and whoever they were they were kidnapping her mother!

Tasha paused, uncertain what to do next as she glanced from the retreating quartet with her mother to the trio of orcs who were even then forcing the women to the ground and tearing at their clothing. She wanted desperately to help all of them, but couldn’t see how she would. Then Drifter appeared in front of the orphanage, running one of the orcs through with his borrowed sword while kicking one of the attackers off of Sheridian. As Drifter turned to face the third orc, Tasha decided to trust him to deal with that situation and turned her attention toward the quartet that was, even then, fleeing with her mother. As she took off in pursuit of the four she stooped down and grabbed the last three arrows from the dead guards quiver. She ran as fast as her sandaled feet would let her, noting that the kidnappers were heading east, a route that would take them into the mountains once they were out of town. She couldn’t see that as a chosen escape route, so she figured once they cleared the edge of town they would cut to the left and navigate down to the shore where they likely had a ship waiting for them.

When Tasha had run clear of the fighting and had a clean shot she paused long enough to notch the first of her three arrows to the string and fired quickly, taking the minimal time she needed to aim. She had been aiming for the woman, thinking that if she took her down then she would have two prisoners, since the cloaked man didn’t seem in any condition to flee on his own. But at the last second she had stepped to the side so that Tasha’s arrow caught the man in the cloak instead. He cried out in pain as he was flung away from the woman, who turned to glare back at Tasha. In answer the elf fired her second arrow but to her surprise the woman deflected it with a wave of her hand. ‘Mage!’ Tasha thought, and the third arrow she sent instead at the apparently traitorous Jev. He cried out in pain as her arrow took him in the back of the shoulder, causing him to stagger. The man carrying her mother glanced back over his shoulder at her briefly, then reached over and grabbed the Acolyte’s arm. Tasha noticed then that the woman had turned away and was casting a spell.

Out of arrows, Tasha started toward the group, thinking to fight them hand to hand if she had to to get her mother away from them. But she hadn’t covered half the distance when suddenly a circle of shimmering, swirling light appeared in front of the woman. Tasha, though she was not well versed in the ways of magic, knew this to a portal.

“NO!” She screamed as the man carrying her mother shoved Jev through the portal and then followed immediately behind. The woman glanced at the cloaked man, who was lying motionless on the ground, green smoke sill billowing from his hood then she glanced back at Tasha and with a snarl of hatred she turned and disappeared through the portal as well. Just as the elf arrived at the fallen mans side, the portal closed in on itself and her mother was lost to her. “Dammit!” she cried, then she turned to see that the cloaked figure was in fact stirring feebly, moaning. His arms were raised and his hands were covering his face, it looked like he had been wounded somehow, perhaps some of the fire had burned his face? The elf reached out with one foot and gingerly rolled him onto his back. The smoke billowed out thick and noxious from beneath his hands. “Who are you?” she demanded, not wanting to crouch near him for fear of inhaling the smoke, whatever it was. “Why did you people do this?” His only response was to moan in pain and as she looked closer, Tasha could see hideous blisters forming on his face where the hands didn’t cover. She shuddered and looked away, back toward the fighting, which was now breaking up. Then another sound made her blood run cold… the scream of a woman from inside the temple, a voice she recognized. “Kally!” she cried, and was running again.

Mere moments later Tasha stood in the entrance of the once majestic temple, the flames that engulfed the building trying to sear her flesh. Another cry from within spurred her to action and she leapt through the initial flames blocking the doorway. The heat was intense, but only for a moment and she landed in the entryway relatively unscathed. “Kally!?” she called into the building, her voice all but drowned by the roaring inferno.

She thanked her races sensitive hearing when her sister responded almost at once, “Up here! Father’s office! Hurry Ana, he’s hurt bad!” Tasha’s heart seized in her chest as she realized the cries for help had not been because her sister was hurt but because she had been trying to help their father, and now they were both trapped.

The beautiful elf, both of them in fact, had grown up playing and racing down the halls of this temple and knew its intricacies inside and out without need of conscious thought. Tasha was able to focus on the flames and navigating around them, letting her feet carry her to the stairs and up to the second floor, where Ragnor… their father… kept his office. Stairway too was engulfed in flame and about halfway up Tasha had to leap through another curtain of fire, this time landing in the middle of it and having to leap again. She cried out as the flames burned her, felt a flash of heat on her back and was certain some of her hair had burned away, but she pressed on.

The second floor hall was choked with smoke more than fire and Tasha knew this was because it was mostly stone. This also told her that the fire had started below and was working its way up, not having reached this hallway yet. The stone would burn, and it would burn slowly… but it had not started. She raced blindly into the smoke, hearing Kallysta call out for help again. “I’m coming! I’m nearly there!” Then she was there, staggering through the door of their fathers office, the outer wall of which was aflame, the fire spreading across the ceiling so that cinders were raining down like a hellish storm. Kally was there too, crouched by their fathers desk, working desperately at the man himself. RagnorTulaetin had fallen apparently coming around the desk and as Tasha approached she gasped, a hand rising to her mouth in shock and despair. The front of his clerics robe was crimson, the stain spreading even still. Then she understood that for the stain to spread, the heart had to still be pumping… he yet lived.

Her sister looked up at her, dark eyes desperate. “We have to get him out of here, but I can’t carry him alone!”

Tasha assessed the situation quickly, then nodded and moved to Ragnors’ feet. Kally quickly understood and crouched at his shoulders, sliding her hands under them. There was no count of three, they simply both lifted together, the benefit of sisters who, though they couldn’t be more opposite, knew each other so well that no communication was truly necessary. They moved as fast as their burden would allow to the door and out into the hall. Both women started to cough immediately and so did their father.

“We can’t take the front stairs! Their lost to the flames!” Tasha called as Kally started to move that way.

“Where then?” Kally called back, desperate to save their father and escape the temple.

“Dumbwaiter.” His voice was weak and barely audible, but apparently coughing in the smoke filled hallway had woke their father, if only temporarily.

Tasha had leaned forward instinctively on hearing his voice, and understanding his meaning she nodded. “He’s right! The dumbwaiters’ chute is made of metal, it will be scalding hot, but should be intact. It leads straight to the cellar and we can get out through the exit there!”

“Go!” Kally cried, needing no further explanation. They carried him the few yards down the hall to the second floors dumbwaiter door, which was wood and slid upward. Tasha thanked Gaea that it had not yet burned as she slid it up. Smoke billowed out of the chute as she lifted the door and she had to stagger back, coughing and wheezing. By the time she straightened Kally was already hauling on the rope that would bring the small dumbwaiter up to their level. Tasha joined her and they pulled it up together. “Let’s get him in!”

“No!” Tasha shook her head. “You first. One of us has to be down there to pull him out, he won’t be able to do it himself!” Kally paused, her mouth open to argue, but then saw the logic in her sisters statement and without another word she clambered into the small car. Though a shapely woman, Kally wasn’t so well endowed as her younger sister and she managed to fold herself into it easily enough.

“It’s not so hot yet, but don’t take long lowering me. I don’t relish feeling what’s happening on the first floor!” Tasha didn’t bother responding, she simply took the rope in both hands, leaned back to help support the weight and started to lower her sister as fast as she could. She felt when the dumbwaiter hit the bottom and a moment later the gentle tug on the rope that told her Kally was clear. She hauled the car back to the second floor, her arms burning with the strain, then locked it back into place. She was a strong woman, but her fathers dead weight was almost more than she could manage, especially after the struggles leading up to this point. Still, he was her father and she refused to fail, so though it took her a couple of minutes to accomplish, she got him folded into the dumbwaiter and started to lower it down through the blazing temple.

It seemed to take forever, but finally she felt the dumbwaiter settle on the ground and she staggered back with relief, letting the rope fall free. She gave it a minute for her sister to drag their father clear, then she returned to the dumbwaiter, but didn’t grab the rope. She had already determined she wouldn’t be able to get out that way, she didn’t have the strength anymore. She called down the chute, “Kally! Get him out… I’ll have to find another way! I can’t make the trip down there.”

She heard her sisters voice reply, but the echo of the fire coming up the chute drowned the words. Rather than attempt any further useless conversation, she turned and set her mind to her own survival. She glanced toward the stairs down, saw they were a lost cause and then looked the other way. The wall at the end of the hall was lost to fire, and the stone walls were starting to smoke but hadn’t caught yet. Her father’s office was no doubt an inferno by now, but there were other rooms… perhaps she could get out a window through one of those. The next door down on the left was her mother’s office and she tried it first. The knob was hot in her hand as she pulled the door open and the situation within was similar to what she had seen in Ragnor’s, but it was passable. She stepped through the door and suddenly a massive crack from above drew her eye upward. A rafter had burned through and was falling toward her. She saw in the blink of an eye that she wouldn’t clear it, knew she was about to die.

A strong arm looped about her waist and she felt as though her stomach were leaping into her throat as she was jerked backward violently. The rafter crashed into and then through the floor right where she had been standing and the elf found herself back in the hall, standing next to a tall, well built young man in the chainmail armor of a town guard. As she turned to get a better look at him, she found herself looking into the broad, earnest young face of Tanner Flynn, whom she had helped against his orc combatant in the street earlier. She didn’t bother to thank him for saving her life, there would be time for that later.

“The only possible way out now is through a window!” She called over the roar of the fire. He nodded and turned, pointing to another door across the hall. She tried that door, found it unlocked and stepped through it into the library. She lamented the loss of all these books, some of them volumes her father had tried for years to acquire. But they were just things, and things could be replaced. Being the more familiar with the layout of the room, Tasha led the way across it to the large window on the far side. They were both coughing and gagging on the smoke that permeated the room, but there didn’t seem to be any fire yet. She cast about desperately for something to use to break the glass, but Tanner stepped up and did the deed with the shield strapped to his strong arm.

“You first!” he called, knocking away the last few fragments of the glass that were stuck to the frame. Tasha didn’t argue, eager to be clear of the burning building and climbed up onto the sill. She looked down, registered that the drop looked a lot farther than it actually was and then saw the ground disappear in a billow of smoke as one of the windows directly beneath her shattered. “Go!” he called and she stepped out, the wind catching her hair and the skirt of her ruined dress, sending both billowing up and out. She waited for the impact, expecting to have to drop and roll to lessen the fall, but when she landed safely in a pair of strong arms she grunted and looked around into the face of none other than Kir’GyleZinn, his half orc visage smiling in a way she thought was rather smug.

“Saw you appear in the window from the street!” he said.

When he had caught her dropping from the window Tasha’s arms had automatically gone around his neck, and she lowered them to his chest, smiling slightly. She opened her mouth to thank him aloud, then her eyes widened and she jumped from his arms shouting, “Kally!” As soon as her feet hit the ground she was running.

“You’re welcome.” Gyle grumbled, glancing over just as Tanner Flynn landed next to him. The soldier glanced around, looking for Tasha and Gyle nodded toward the corner of the temple she had just disappeared around. They took off at a trot, following in her wake and came upon her and her sister, Kally having just dragged a badly wounded Ragnor from the cellar entrance.

Tasha looked around at the two men when they appeared. “Bring Father Titus, the priest of Oceanus! Quickly!”

Flynn responded, “I saw him around front, already tending to the wounded soldiers.” With that he turned and sprinted for the front of the temple.

Father Titus was a decrepit old human who had opened a temple here in Hanover with her father’s blessings, Ragnor knowing that Oceanus was popular among sailors. The two faiths, Oceanus and Gaea, got along well enough and the two temples had co-existed peacefully, though Titus’s had not been quite so prosperous as had Ragnor’s. He was a slightly built man of nearly seventy years, his bald head and seemingly perpetually sad face showing a roadmaps worth of wrinkle lines. He came hobbling around the temple, led by Tanner Flynn who by now was joined by his older brother and Colonel Sneed. Both of the senior officers sported cuts and burns, obviously they had been involved in the fighting.

As the priest crouched by Ragnor, Tasha and Kally forced themselves to rise and step back, giving him room to work. Lon Sneed, commander of the city guard, approached the elven women. “The attackers have been repelled, and they’ve formed a bucket brigade to save what they can of your parents temple.” He turned to look at Titus, working diligently over their father. “Any idea what this attack was about?”

Both women shook their heads, unwilling and unable to take their eyes off of their father. Tasha had the presence of mind to inform the Colonel of the cloaked man she had captured a block down the road. “There is a prisoner awaiting one of your cells a block to east, he was wounded somehow, his face seemed to be burning. Maybe from something he encountered in the temple, but your men should be cautious when dealing with him.”

Sneed nodded, then turned to Rancyd Flynn, who nodded again and turned away, going to collect the prisoner in question. No one else spoke as the elderly priest worked over the elf, who was in fact much older than he but looked no more than thirty. Several minutes past with no sound but the roaring of flames from the burning temple, then Titus sighed and settled back on his haunches. “He’s stable… but he’s not out of danger yet. There’s something in his body working against my magic, a poison I believe that won’t be healed by any method I know. I can sustain him for a time… but without an antidote I have no idea if he will recover fully.”

“For now he is out of danger?” Kally asked, and the old priest nodded.

“Thank the Goddess.” Tasha breathed out, then suddenly she was overcome by such a wave of fatigue that her knees buckled and she dropped to them, her hands on her thighs as she bent forward, closing her eyes against a wave of dizziness.

“Ladies,” Sneed said softly, “when you’ve had time to recover and see to your fathers comfort, I’ll need to speak to you.” Both Tasha and Kally nodded but said nothing. With that Sneed turned sharply and walked off around the side of the temple.

Tasha and Kally took the better part of an hour getting their father settled into the master bedroom of their family home and instructing the staff on what to do for him. Titus, the priest of Oceanus, insisted on seeing to their wounds. Tasha only then remembered that not all of hers had anything to do with the attack on the temple. She would have to remember to speak to Sneed about the soldiers that tried to rape her earlier… she would also have to find Drifter and thank him. That one’s actions had been surprising and very heroic this evening. It seemed there was more to their homeless man than met the eye.

“Should we get the meeting with Sneed over with?” Kally asked, knowing that neither of them looked forward to it.

Natashiana regarded her sister tiredly, but nodded her consent. Kally was of a height with Tasha, but that was pretty much where the resemblance ended. In her mind, her older sister was the ideal of beauty, her long hair was sleek and black as a raven’s feathers, her eyes dark and haunting. She had high cheekbones, a straight nose and sensuously full lips that had sparked more than one mans imagination. Where Tasha herself was a very full figured woman whose curves were firm and shapely, Kallysta too had a womanly shape but hers appeared more soft and inviting. She had never been much for physical labor. Something else she had never been very into was wearing dresses, she would when the situation called for it, but it was far more common to find her wearing pants and a blouse of some expensive imported fabric. And the blouses were always open at the top, usually three buttons worth.

“Perhaps we should both change clothes first. We look like we’ve been in a massive battle.” Tasha suggested.

Kally looked down at herself and smiled slightly, pulling at the rags of her nice silk blouse which had been singed and burned. “Well… we have.”

Tasha sighed and nodded, looking at her own dress. It wasn’t a favorite, which was nice, but it was one of the last articles of clothing she had left from when Calistone was alive. “I’ll meet you at the stockade?” Kally nodded and the two of them parted for a short spell.

As Tasha made her way back to her apartment she found that the bucket brigade was still working at the temple, though now all they tried to do was confine the blaze, the temple was lost. She thanked the people there for their devotion and hard work, then continued past the orphanage where she found her adopted daughter, Sheridian seated on the stairs to the front porch. She moved up the path from the gate and sat next to her. Sheridian eyed her adoptive mothers torn and burned garment critically. “You need to change.”

Tasha nodded. “I see you have.” During the attack Sheridian had been wearing a nightgown that the orc attacking her had tried to rip off of her. Now she wore a simple blue dress with a neckline cut low enough to afford just a hint of cleavage. Tasha had always thought her daughter to unfortunately well endowed, a byproduct of her half elven heritage, she assumed. Her mother had been exceptionally beautiful too. Sheridian herself was a few inches shorter than Tasha, five foot nine, with long and very curly brown hair. She had high cheekbones with a smattering of freckles and her ears had no points so she could pass for pure human if she wished. She was not willowy but her curves were plentiful and well rounded, but firmed from her years of helping Tasha to run the orphanage. Soon she would doing that for herself, Tasha had been planning for some time now to turn the operation over to her.

“Do you know what it was about? The attack?” Sheridian asked. Tasha could hear the quiver in her voice, which Sheridian had tried bravely to hide. Tasha chose not to mention it, but she did lean over and put an arm around her daughters shoulders.

“I don’t, but Kallysta and I have a meeting with Sneed soon to determine that very thing. He may have some ideas, but I don’t hold much hope of that.” Sheridian snorted in amusement, though it was difficult to smile right then. She knew her mother didn’t have much faith in the Colonels intelligence and frequented commented on his lack of thereof.

“That man that helped me and the girls earlier… was that Drifter?” Sheridian asked now. Tasha nodded. “He saved me and the other two from being raped by those orcs.” Sheridian shuddered against her mother’s side, no doubt reliving that horror. Tasha knew she would relive it in her nightmares for some time to come.

“He did the same for me just a few minutes before that.” Sheridian scowled at her curiously. “Some of Sneeds men, actually. Not the raiders. They jumped me in the night while I was trying to find a patrol to warn of the orcs I had seen coming into town.”

Sheridian’s brows shot up in surprise. “You saw them coming?”

Tasha nodded. “Through my bedroom window I could see them sneaking into town and knew they were up to no good. Reminded me of that night ten years ago when….” She trailed off, they both knew what had happened ten years ago. They had both lost people they loved and neither of them needed reminding of it just then.

“You should go and change so you can meet with the Colonel.” Sheridian said, pushing herself to her feet. “I need to check on the children, make sure their not too scared. The fire at the temple is visible from at least half of the bedrooms.”

“Have I told you lately of how proud I am of the woman you’re becoming?” Tasha asked her as she too stood up. Sheridian just smiled her thanks at her, then turned and disappeared through the front door. Tasha’s keen elven hearing detected the slight sob that Sheridian had tried to choke back, but hadn’t quite succeeded at. She sighed as she turned away, heading now to the apartment above the archery shop. She climbed the stairs at the back of the building and let herself in, moving to her bedroom where she stripped out of the ruined dress and threw it into the stove to be burned later. Then she washed off the soot and grime of the evening and, thinking that her sister would probably be wearing pants and blouse again, donned another dress, this one more befitting a noble woman. She figured one of them needed to represent their family properly in this meeting. Neither of their parents was available to do so.

“You all right?” Gyle asked from the doorway of her bedroom and Tasha gasped, spinning around, eyes wide with startled fright, her heart leaping.

‘How long had he been standing there?’ She closed her eyes briefly, letting herself calm down. “I wish you wouldn’t do that!” She chastised him, thinking it was time for the young half-orc to find someplace else to live. They had given him the room downstairs when he was much younger and had no means to support himself. That wasn’t the case anymore, and she made a promise to herself to discuss it with him. “But yes… I’m all right.”

“Sorry to startle you.” He stayed where he was in the doorway and Tasha noticed that at least he had finally put a shirt on. In fact, it looked like he had bathed and dressed fully since the fight at the temple. “How’s your father?”

She sighed, sitting on the end of her bed to pull on a pair of shoes that went well with the violet dress she had chosen. It was low cut and she didn’t need to look to know that Gyle would be staring down its front right now. She chose to ignore it as she answered his question. “He’s stable for the moment, but there’s a poison in his system that won’t let him heal all the way.” She stood up and held her arms out to her sides. “How do I look?”

He smiled a very… adult smile that nearly made her blush. “As beautiful as ever.” He said, his eyes seeming to feast on her as they moved up and down her form.

“Kally and I have a meeting with Colonel Sneed about the attack on the temple.” She said, feeling as though she were having to explain why she had dressed up a bit. “Since she won’t, I felt it was necessary to look the part of the noblewoman, representing the ruling family.”

“That makes some sense, yes.” Gyle said, still openly roving her body with his bizarre black on yellow eyes.

“Stop staring at me like that Gyle. It makes me… nervous.” She surprised herself with that admission, but it was true.

His smile broadened. “Why ever should I make you nervous? You’ve known me since I was seven.”

‘And now your nineteen and very grown up. A young man with a young man’s libido, and it’s starting to cause problems.’ She also thought that his bolder manner toward her might have something to do with his orcish heritage. Plus, he had always had the idea in his head that since Calistone had chosen him as an apprentice, the master bowyer must have intended him to inherit everything, the business and the wife! “We need to talk soon Gyle. I think it might be time for you to find someplace else to live.”

She expected him to be angry about this, but he simply shrugged and kept smiling. “There are places available in town.”

She sighed and his eyes dropped slightly to watch her breasts rise and fall. Her tone harsh and brisk she said, “I need to go. The colonel and likely Kally will be waiting for me.” She walked toward the door of her bedroom but he didn’t move out of the way. She stood there in front of him, less than an arms length away, seeing the desire for her smoldering in his gaze. “Gyle… move.” She said emphatically.

His nose was slightly broader than was the norm, no doubt due to his orcish half, and she saw his nostrils flare as he inhaled deeply. She realized he was breathing in her scent and she imagined she saw his shoulders tense slightly. For a moment she thought he was going to reach for her, and his fingers did in fact flex, but after a moment he simply nodded and stepped back a pace. She still had to squeeze by him to get out her door, the tips of her breasts brushing against his chest. His eyes narrowed slightly as though he wanted to close them, savoring that touch, but he fought the urge. She left him there, trying desperately not to run from her own apartment. As she descended the back stairs she wondered what she was going to do with the young man, his behavior was starting to become obsessive. She startled herself to realize that she was becoming afraid of him, and she didn’t like that at all.

Sure enough, when she arrived at the stockade a while later Kally and Sneed were already there, in the colonels office talking. When the desk sergeant escorted Tasha to the colonel’s office, he opened the door and she saw them there, her sister with one of her trademark sultry smiles on her face, sitting opposite the colonel in a straight backed chair, leaning over toward him, her chin perched on her hand. The colonel was making no effort to keep from looking down the front of her blouse, which was blue and shimmered as though made of some kind of satin material.

‘She’s incorrigible.’ Tasha thought with a sigh, entering the room but not smiling. She saw no reason no reason to make light of the situation. “Colonel, I’d like to keep this brief, I’m very tired and there is much to do.”

He rose, his eyes lighting up even more at sight of her than they had already been with Kally in the room. He came around his desk, nodding a dismissal at the sergeant, then took Tasha’s hand and kissed it lightly on the back. She pulled her hand away as quickly as possible, barely able to tolerate his touch. He motioned her to the chair next to her sister, and Tasha sat, keeping herself poised and straight in the chair while Kally, still smiling sensually, lounged backward, one arm over the back of the chair. Tasha rolled her eyes slightly, but waited for the colonel to sit down and start the conversation. Once he had sat he took a moment to regard the two women, as though only then realizing the striking differences in them.

“I’ll start by assuring you we have the man you captured in custody.” Sneed informed Tasha, and she nodded acceptance of that. “He isn’t talking though. Whatever it was that burned his face is still running its course. Titus has been to see him and recommends that we keep him quarantined until it stops. He thinks there’s some kind of… what was the word he used? Ah yes, metamorphosis going on there.”

Tasha’s brows shot up at that. “He’s transforming into something?”

“That’s what the priest thinks, yes. We’ve got the man, who we’re taking to be a rogue of some kind by his dress and choice of weaponry, secluded in a cell up on the third floor. He’s under light guard for the time being, I don’t want to subject too many of my men to him until whatever is happening has run its course.”

“A wise precaution colonel.” Tasha agreed. “I feel I must tell you something before we go any further. As the attack on my parents temple was beginning, I saw from my bedroom window several figures moving through the shadows. I could see they were orcs, heavily armed and armored and I went out in search of one of your patrols to report what I had seen.”

“Wise of you.” He said, nodding sagely.

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “Before I could do so, one of your patrols found me. Had it not been for the prompt intervention of Drifter… those four men would have gang raped me.”

Kally’s head snapped around in surprise. “What?” She sat up then, all pretense lost as she realized her sister had been seriously threatened. “Four of them? And… Drifter saved you?”

Tasha nodded, still watching Sneed, gauging his reaction. His eyes had narrowed slightly, but other than that he gave no indication that it had surprised him. Tasha nodded in answer to her sisters questions. “Evidently there is more to Drifter than we originally surmised.”

“Evidently.” Sneed said then. His posture didn’t change, but his tone was stern. “Would this have been sergeant Brolin and his patrol?” Tasha nodded. “We found them dead in the alley behind your shop, we thought it had been the attackers that did it.” He shook his head. “Well, obviously they’ve been dealt with so there’s nothing left for me to do in that regard.”

“Other than see to the rising tide of such behavior from your men. I’m hearing an awful lot of reports of harassment from your people toward the citizens of this town Colonel. Especially the girls from my orphanage.” She glared across the desk at him, grateful to have this opportunity to voice something that had been bothering her for a while.

“I’ll speak to my men.” He said in a voice slightly lowered and dripping acid.

“I’d appreciate that.” She said. “Now, about this attack tonight?”

Sneed nodded, squaring his shoulders and getting back on more comfortable ground. “We have a total of fourteen dead… ten now that I know Brolin and his men weren’t due to the attack. Three of those were my men, the others were orcs. Do either of you have any idea why they would have so specifically targeted your parents temple? They don’t seem to have focused on anyplace else in town.”

“Not true, they also hit the orphanage. My daughter and a couple of the older girls were almost raped. Again… Drifter intervened.” Kally whistled softly and shook her head, surprised at the actions of the town drunk.

“I believe the attacks on the ladies from the orphanage, while unfortunate, were collateral. I think those particular attackers just got over zealous.” Sneed said.

Tasha considered that a moment, then she nodded. “I can see the sense in that. But to answer your question… no, I don’t know why they singled out the temple. To my knowledge there is nothing there that would interest bandits.” After a moment, during which each of them were lost in there thoughts, she added, “Is there anything else Colonel?”

“A great many things, most of them questions without answers. But unfortunately, you don’t seem to be able to supply any of those.” He shook his head. “With any luck, our prisoner will be able to talk shortly. Titus is going to keep checking in on him.”

Tasha got up abruptly and Kally got to her feet as well. “Then we’ll be getting on with our own business. We have to see to father… and get some rest. Then there’s the church that will be need to be contacted. There’s quite a lot to do.”

“I assure you ladies I’ll get to the bottom of this. I know your mother is still missing, I’ll not rest till Lady Ayla is back among us safe and sound.” His words were appropriate, but his tone was hollow.

“Anything you do will be appreciated Colonel.” Tasha said, then she turned and exited the office without another glance in his direction. Kally followed on her heels, the sisters staying quiet all the way through the lobby area of the garrison. They could feel the eyes of the soldiers on them as they passed, but they looked neither left nor right. They passed through the door and turned sharply left, heading toward the main street that moved up the hill. The sky to the north was still lit up with the flames from the temple.

“Tasha….” Kally said softly.

“I know.” The younger sister responded.

“It’s the only explanation!” Kally said.

“I know!” Tasha reiterated.

“But how did they find out about it? It’s supposed to be the churches most closely guarded secret.” Kally said, her tone one of someone who found a problem to be unsolvable.

Tasha stopped at the corner of the street and turned to face her sister, keeping her voice pitched low less anyone passing on the street hear them. “I don’t know how they found out about it. But there isn’t any better explanation. No matter how unlikely it is, this attack on the temple had to have had something to do with the Dark Vault.”

-3-

Two days passed uneventfully with Tasha and Kally taking shifts at their fathers bedside. Titus, the elderly priest of Oceanus was in and out of the family home so often that the sisters instructed the staff to make a room available to him so that he could stay in the family home and not have to climb the hill in town so often. The temple still continued to smolder, though there was nothing much left of it now but a pile of rubble. The rock it had been built of was slow to burn and slower to cool, but life in Hanover was starting to return to normal already. Such was life on Kyzanthia… hardship was a norm and people learned to cope early on.

It was during one of Tasha’s stints sitting at their fathers bedside that the head butler in the home, Fallon, came into the room and spoke quietly to her. “Milady, there’s a member of the town guard here to see you.”

Tasha scowled slightly, no knowing what in the world one of the guardsmen could want with her. But she nodded and stood up, smoothing her dress down over her stomach and hips. It wasn’t a fancy affair, a plain white dress with a long skirt that trailed to the ground and a bodice just low cut enough to show a tantalizing hint of her cleavage. She had her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, not a style she often adopted but it had been easier today.

Fallon led her down the stairs and to the families main sitting room where she found Tanner Flynn waiting for her. The young soldier was dressed in his chainmail and had a sword on his hip and his shield on his back. He was standing in front of the hearth, gazing up at the picture of her mother, Ayla that was mounted above the fireplace. As they entered he turned toward her and when his eyes fell on the elf he smiled and she thought that in a few years time, he was going to be a real heartbreaker.

“Milady.” He said with a half bow by way of greeting.

She smiled at him, though there was little warmth in the expression. She wasn’t feeling particularly magnanimous lately. “You wanted to see me…” she glanced at his shoulders to the epaulets where rank would be displayed, but he had none, “…private?”

He nodded. “Yes ma’am, or rather… the colonel has requested your presence at the Garrison.”

She frowned. “Did he say why?”

“The prisoner is well enough to be interrogated milady, but apparently he is refusing to speak at all to anyone but you.” That set Tasha back a bit and she blinked in surprise.

“Me? Why me?” She wondered.

Tanner Flynn shrugged. “That’s what the colonel is wondering too I’d imagine milady. He sent me to fetch you.”

Tasha thought about it a moment, then she nodded. “Very well, let’s go down to the garrison then.” She turned to Fallon. “Get in touch with Kally will you Fallon? Tell her what’s happened and ask her to take over with father for me?” The old elf nodded and moved silently from the room. Tasha looked at the soldier and motioned him to precede her. “After you private.”

Tanner didn’t hesitate, he moved across the room and through the open door, turning right and heading for the front. Tasha fell in behind him and soon they were striding down the street, toward the main road and down the hill. They walked in silence for a time, and then Tasha broke it with, “I never got the chance to thank you for the other night. You were very brave helping me like you did, rushing into the burning temple.”

“Just my duty milady. And I felt I owed you after that brilliant bow work you did. Saved my skin with that shot.” He didn’t glance at her, but she could hear the admiration in his voice.

“My late husband taught me to shoot… and how to make bows and arrows.” She smiled slightly, remembering some of the archery lessons in the fields outside of town. Some of those had ended in rather… memorable ways.

“I wish I had known him ma’am. The people here in town say he was something pretty special.” Tanner commented.

Tasha knew he was just making small talk, but she appreciated the gesture. “That he was.” They were silent again until they reached the garrison. Tanner led the way inside, holding the door for Tasha as she entered. She was struck by how different he seemed from his brother, who seemed rather indifferent toward the pleasantries of society. There may be hope for Tanner, though if he stayed around the town guard long enough, he would likely fall to corruption as well. Sneed and the elder Flynn brother were waiting for her when she arrived.

“Turns out our prisoners is known and highly sought assassin that calls himself Toxyn.” Sneed informed her as she walked up. She ignored Rancyd, whose eyes were openly undressing her as she approached the duo. “He’s suspected to operate out of the human empire, but he’s wanted in many different kingdoms… including this one.”

“I see. Has he told you what happened to him? I assume if he was from the empire, he must be human?” Tasha inquired.

Sneed shook his head, looking angered. “No, he hasn’t said anything other than he will only speak to you.”

Tasha sighed, aware as she did so that all three mens eyes dropped to her bust line. She refrained from rolling her eyes, knowing that men would be men and instead asked, “So where is he?”

“We have him in an interrogation room.” Sneed told her, then stepped to one side and motioned her to precede them. As she did so she saw the colonel dismiss Tanner with a nod, but heard him and Rancyd both fall in behind her as she walked toward the hallway they had indicated. She had never been to the interrogation rooms before. She preferred to keep as great a distance as possible between herself and anything having to do with Sneed or Flynn. She felt suddenly nervous being alone with both men as they passed through a doorway into a narrow hall. She was very aware of their eyes on her from behind and didn’t need much imagination to know what they were thinking. She was very glad that her staff up at the house knew she was here. “Second door on the left milady.”

When Sneed spoke, she halted in front of the door he had mentioned and turned to face them. “I’ll be alone with him.” It wasn’t a question, she didn’t want either of these men in the room when she questioned Toxyn. Sneed glanced at Flynn, then nodded. Tasha squared her shoulders, then turned to the door and nodded. Flynn stepped forward and unlocked the door, pulled it open for her and she stepped through. She paused just inside the room, glancing around as the half-elf closed and locked the door behind her. The room was not large, perhaps fifteen by fifteen feet, square with a table and two chairs in the center. In the chair facing the door sat the man she now knew to be called Toxyn, a wanted assassin. He was of average height for a human male, perhaps five foot nine and without his cloak she could see that he had would have had black hair before the change that had overcome him. Now it was tinged slightly green, just as his skin had been. He was rather hideous to behold, his skin having formed blisters wherever she could see it, some of them having burst and leaked puss down his face so that it glistened slightly in the dim light of the interrogation chamber. He was wearing a black tunic that hung down over the waist of his black, soft leather pants. They had removed his belt, boots and gloves so that his hands and feet were bare, revealing that they too were covered in the blisters that had ruptured. She shivered with revulsion, unable to restrain herself.

“Grotesque, isn’t it?” He said with a small smile, shrugging in a somewhat self deprecating way. “Wasn’t part of the plan, I assure you.”

“What happened to you?” she asked him, not yet approaching the table.

“Don’t you know? I figured you would have known about the items in there.” Tasha winced inwardly, hoping that Sneed and Flynn couldn’t hear what was being said in here.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She told him, trying to appear perplexed.

He cocked his head to one side, then shook it. “You’re not a very good liar, we should just get that out in the open right now. It won’t do you any good to lie to me.”

She raised an eyebrow, but said nothing to that. Instead she opened with, “You said you would only speak to me… why?”

He shrugged, “Because you’re the one whose most going to want to hear what I have to say.”

“I’m listening.” She said, crossing her arms beneath her breasts, which inadvertently pushed them up further into the bodice of her dress, pushing more cleavage up into the neckline.

He whistled appreciatively, “Damn woman! You do know how to fill out a dress!” Tasha turned abruptly to the door and raised a hand to knock. “All right! So let’s talk.”

She lowered the arm and turned back to him, hands on her shapely hips this time and knew immediately from the way his eyes traveled over her that there was nothing she could do that would put him off balance physically. Not for the first time she wished that Gaea hadn’t graced her with a form that men found so pleasing. “What do you want to tell me?” she asked him.

He shook his head again. “That’s not how this works.” He motioned around them at the surrounding room with its sterile white brick walls. “This is an interrogation room… so interrogate me.”

She sighed, then moved over to the empty chair and sat across from him, ignoring the way his eyes traveled over her. That is until she sat down and realized that his eyes, like the rest of him, had changed as well. Now that she was close enough she could see that where they had once been white they were now red and the irises were yellow. When he blinked, the lids came from the sides rather than the top and bottom. She shuddered again, but did better with hiding it. “Who are you?” she asked him. She already knew the answer, but thought it wise to see if he would lie to her from the start.

“They call me Toxyn. I’m a killer for hire.” He told her easily.

She nodded. He had confirmed what Sneed had told her earlier. “Did someone hire you to conduct the raid on my parents temple two days ago?”

He considered that for a moment, glancing up at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Yes and no.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What does that mean? Yes and no?”

“I was, or rather will be well paid for the work. Or would have been if I hadn’t been captured.” He paused there and leaned forward as far as the chains on his wrists would allow him. She only noticed at that moment that he was chained to the arms of the chair. She wondered if his ankles were chained as well. “Well played on that , by the way.” She nodded her acceptance of the compliment. “But the fact of the matter, this job was a family affair. The woman you saw me with that night? Family.”

Tasha gave an exaggerated wince. “Bet that hurt.”

He laughed harshly. “You don’t know my family. It’s rather on par with how we function.”

“Who’s your family? Were they the ones that organized this attack?” she asked, leaning forward slightly. His eyes widened at the view she had afforded him, but she didn’t care, hoping maybe it would distract him into letting something slip.

“Oh no!” he said, lifting his eyes from her chest to meet her gaze, which he seemed equally happy with. Calistone always used to tell her that she had the most stunning eyes! “I can’t just give you everything now! Then I won’t have anything to bargain with later!”

She cocked her head. “Why am I here then? What is it you want from me?”

“Heh.” He gave her a lecherous wink, which was all the more disconcerting with his strange eyelids. “I could think of about fifty things.” Tasha rolled her eyes and shook her head, then placed her palms on the table and pushed herself upright. “Yeah, go ahead and leave. But know this before you do. As long as I’m locked up in here, I’ll never tell you or them anything to help get your mother back.” She had turned to the door, now she glanced back at him.

“You want me to get you out of this jail? I don’t know how things work in the Empire assassin, but here I don’t have the authority to do that. You’re a wanted man.” She shook her head, exasperated at the apparent waste of time.

“You can’t arrange my release, no. But you could… organize it.” He hinted.

She frowned. “You think I’m going to break you out of here?”

He smiled, leaning back in the chair as though it was the most comfortable thing in the world. “I know you will if you think it’s the only way to save your parents.”

“You’re insane!” she said.

He considered that a moment, then nodded. “Probably, yes. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’m all you’ve got.” Tasha shook her head, turning back toward the door. “There is one other thing if you need more convincing elf.” She paused, hand raised to knock at the door. “Just have a look at my gear, the stuff they took from me when they locked me up. I’m pretty sure you have the authority to do that?” She nodded, not understanding why he would ask her for this. “Take a look at my weapon belt in particular… you’ll understand everything then.”

After another moments pause she knocked and Sneed opened the door. “I’m done here,” she glanced over at the assassin, “for now.” Then she exited the room.

In the hall, Sneed and Flynn were both still waiting. “That was fast.” Flynn said suspiciously.

Sneed nodded, having closed and locked the door again. “What did he have to tell you?”

Tasha didn’t respond to either of these things, she merely looked at Colonel Sneed and said, “I need to see his things.”

Sneed blinked. “Pardon?”

Looking slightly frustrated, Tasha said, “His weapons and gear. I understand you confiscated them?” She looked from Sneed to Flynn and back again. They both nodded, neither man looking like they understood what was happening. “I need to see them.”

The two men glanced at each other, then Sneed shrugged and turned away from the interrogation room. He led the way back down the hall to the lobby area where all the guards on duty looked around at them as they emerged. Tasha felt very self-conscious as she moved through that room in the company of the two highest ranking men among them. She saw Tanner Flynn seated at a desk, felt his eyes on her as they crossed the room. They passed through a doorway into another room and Tasha glanced around, realized this was an evidence locker.

“I’ll get them.” Flynn said as he moved past Tasha and Lon Sneed.

Sneed glanced after his executive officer, then he turned to Tasha. “This is highly irregular.” When she said nothing in response, he sighed. “Are you going to tell us what he said in there?”

“Doubtful.” She replied.

“What? Why?” He demanded hotly.

She glanced at him. “It had little to do with the raid on Hanover, it was just… weird. He was weird.” She shook her head. “He said something to me on my way out the door, that’s why I want to look at his gear.” At that moment Rancyd returned with his arms full of items. There was a cloak, a few small bags and containers and a belt lined with a whip, a short sword and a dagger. Tasha followed Flynn over to the counter on one side of the room and the half-elf laid all the items out carefully, then stepped back. Tasha moved forward and bent over the counter, examining the items, paying special attention to the weapon belt as Toxyn had suggested. She saw it almost immediately.

The dagger was familiar to her, so much so that she felt her breath catch in her throat and she leaned closer to examine it further. “Lady?” Sneed asked curiously, catching her reaction.

Tasha reached out and drew the blade forth from its sheath, straightening and holding it up so the blade reflected the dim lighting. “This dagger was my husbands.” She said softly, her voice not carrying more than a few feet.

“Sorry?” Sneed asked, frowning slightly.

Tasha was speechless for a moment, the result of finding the blade there and realizing the ramifications of it. “It was on his belt that night, ten years ago, when he disappeared.”

“Then how did Toxyn get hold of it?” Flynn asked.

Tasha turned her head to regard the half-elf. He was actually quite a handsome man in his way, tall and strong with straight black hair that hung to his shoulders. He wore a chainmail shirt over black leather pants and heavy boots. A broad leather belt about his waist carried a long sword and a quiver of arrows for the long bow he had purchased from her shortly after his arrival. That had been the first time he had hit on her, and the first of many times she had rebuffed him. Unlike his brother who was fully human, he had the delicately pointed ears of his elven heritage and seemed proud of them, keeping his hair tucked behind them. “That’s a damn good question.” After a slight pause she said to Flynn, “Would you excuse us a moment?” The half-elf seemed surprised at the abrupt dismissal, but after a nod from Sneed he turned and left the room. She turned to the colonel earnestly. “What would it take to get him released to my custody?”

“What? Why the devil would you wish to do that?” he demanded.

“That man is the only link I have to what happened to my parents. Now I find out he may have information relating to the attack from ten years ago as well! He’s no good to me extradited to stand trial somewhere else. I need him here.” She took a deep breath, then faced him squarely. “What do I have to do to get you to forget he was ever caught?”

Sneed blinked in surprise, then glanced toward the door, then back at her. “You’re serious? You’re prepared to do…?”

“Whatever it takes.” She replied firmly.

“In order for me to release him to your custody?” She nodded, feeling a lead weight settle in the pit of her stomach. She despised this man, but if giving herself to him was what it took to get on the road toward rescuing her mother and curing her father, then that’s what she would do. He laughed, shaking his head slightly. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to have something on you that would get you to say those words… but I’m afraid you’re too late.”

“What do you mean?” she demanded.

He shrugged. “As much as I’d love to bend you over that counter and have my way with you, it wouldn’t do you any good. I’ve already informed my superiors that Toxyn is here and they’re sending someone to take him to the capitol for trial. I want you milady, but not bad enough to give up my career for it.” He shook his head, looking her over slowly and appreciatively, as if realizing what he was giving up. “Keep the dagger if it belonged to your husband, we don’t need it as evidence against him. But I’m afraid there’s nothing else I can do for you.”

Tasha could feel tears of frustration building up in her eyes, but she forced them back, not willing to cry in front of him. He shook his head again, as if hating his luck, then turned and stalked from the room. Tasha followed him a moment later, having to squeeze past a smiling Rancyd Flynn as he was coming in to put the evidence away. His eyes dipped immediately to look down her dress as she passed, but she paid him no attention, moving quickly through the room and out the front door, Calistone’s dagger still in hand.

She moved down the shore road, lost in her own thoughts, paying no heed to those that greeted her as she passed. Without consciously deciding to she turned on Main street and leaned forward as she always did, mounting the hill up which the town spread. How had the assassin come to have the dagger? The attack had been ten years previously, and while his age was hard to determine in his condition, she didn’t think he was old enough to have been a part of that attack. Further, if the blade had disappeared with Cal, what did that say about its having resurfaced in the first place? Was he alive? If so, why hadn’t he come to find her after the raid? Was a prisoner somewhere? Her thought were whirling with the possibilities opened up to her in the last few minutes.

She was so lost to her own thoughts that she didn’t see the man step from the alley into her path and she collided with him. He staggered slightly and she gasped, losing her balance and starting to fall backward. Strong hands gripped her upper arms and pulled her upright and forward till she found herself pressed up against the filthy, ragged form of Drifter. She looked up at him in surprise, noted that his eyes dipped no lower than hers as most men’s would have.

“Apologies milady, I didn’t see you coming.” He said in his normal soft mutter, as though afraid to have his voice heard.

“Nor I you.” she said with a wan smile, stepping back slightly and he released her arms. “I’m actually glad I ran into you Drifter.” His dark brows shot up at that. “I never got the chance to thank you properly for what you did the other night.”

“No need for that.” He said, shaking his head.

“I disagree. You were very heroic. If you hadn’t intervened when those men jumped me… well it would have made an already bad night worse. And then later you came to the defense of my daughter and the girls from the orphanage against the orcs that had them. You were… inspiring.” She said softly, her eyes playing over his ragged, filthy clothes with their multiple patches. His hair was dirty and stringy and smelled of sweat and stale alcohol, so much so she had to fight not to wrinkle her nose in distaste.

“It was really nothing, I didn’t do it for any special consideration.” He assured her.

She was struck for the first time by his patterns of speech. The way he spoke alluded to an education, which was not something she would have expected from a street bum. “That just makes it all the more worthy of it.” She assured him.

“Just… buy me a drink sometime and we’ll call it even, okay?” he said, obviously feeling uncomfortable with the praise. He started to turn away and Tasha’s keen eye caught a dark stain under his left arm.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, stepping forward with concern, the mysterious dagger temporarily forgotten.

He paused, glancing down at his left side and shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

“You got it the other night, didn’t you?” She demanded, taking his arm and turning him back toward her. He was looking uncomfortable again, especially when she leaned closer to try and get a better look.

“Yes… from the orcs at the orphanage. But it’s nothing, really!” He said, trying to pull away.

Tasha shook her head. “It’s not nothing Drifter, it’s already been two days since it happened. It might fester if you don’t get it looked at. Let’s face it, you’re not the cleanest man around and that just begs for infection.” She looked up into his clear brown eyes, saw discomfort and embarrassment there. “Come on, back to my apartment.”

“What? No!” he said, glancing around as though afraid someone might have heard her.

Tasha straightened and placed her fists on her well rounded hips, looking sternly at him. “I can’t dress the wound properly out here. Now come on!”

“Milady… it wouldn’t be proper for me to be seen entering your apartment!” He sounded almost desperate and Tasha thought he was grasping at straws, but then she realized with a flash of insight that he really was just concerned about her reputation.

She nearly laughed, but thought better of it in time. “Oh for… then we won’t be seen! If we go in the back we can go up the stairs to my private entrance. No one will have to know. Gyle is minding the store so he won’t be in the back to hear or see anything.” He was still hesitant and she was growing impatient. “Look, I want to help you. You did me a good turn two night ago… I want to return the favor, that’s all.”

After a few moments more hesitation, he finally relented and she saw his shoulders slump slightly when he nodded. She smiled and turned to lead the way down the street, but after a moment she realized he wasn’t following and turned back. “Maybe we should go this way?” he suggested, nodding toward the alley he had come out of.

Tasha rolled her eyes but smiled and followed him into the gloom of the alley and from there through the back streets of Hanover till they arrived at the stairs leading up to her apartment. She mounted them first, hearing his heavy footfalls behind her. Half way up she glanced over her shoulder and smiled, seeing his eyes following the sway of her backside. He glanced up, saw that he had been caught appreciating her figure and looked away, coloring slightly in embarrassment. Tasha did laugh then, she couldn’t help it. He came across so… well, innocent was the only way she could think of to relate it.

“It’s all right to look Drifter, I’ve long since grown accustomed to the attentions of men.” She told him.

“It does you a disservice to regard you in that way. You’re not just some… side of beef to be admired. No woman is.” She paused outside her door and glanced down at him, surprised and more than a little touched at his apparent code of conduct.

“More men should think that way.” She said softly, then opened the door and led the way inside. Drifter hesitated at the doorway, then stepped across the threshold and glanced around. It wasn’t a large apartment, taking up only half of the second floor of the shop. The rest was storage for materials used in the crafting of archery supplies. It was comfortably appointed and as he moved through the sitting room, into which the entrance had opened, he saw a leather upholstered divan facing a small fireplace, a pair of softly upholstered chairs near a well stocked book case and a wood stove in a section of the room that had been cordoned off as a kitchen area. There was a small cupboard there and a few shelving units that held pots and pans and the like. Tasha disappeared into an adjoining room that must have been the bedroom and Drifter stood in the center of the sitting room, looking uncomfortable and out of place.

She returned a few moments later carrying a small stack of folded garments and what looked to him like a bath towel. She came over and placed them in his hands, then laughed at the perplexed look on his face. “I can’t dress that wound until you clean up, it wouldn’t do any good. We don’t want it to get infected, so go take a bath.” She gestured at another door opposite the bedroom, “There’s a tub in there and these clothes,” she patted the pile of clothing in his hands, “were my late husbands. You and he are of a size so I think they’ll fit.”

He pushed the garments back toward her, “I can’t accept that milady. It’s too generous.”

“Nonsense, you can and you will.” She saw the look of frustration that came over his face and she sighed, pushing the clothing back toward him. “Look Drifter… Calistone has no further need of them, so you may as well get some use out of them. And a bath, some first aid and perhaps a meal are the absolute least I can do for you after your actions on my behalf the other night.” She smiled warmly at him, “Besides… I’m more stubborn than you are, so go.”

Recognizing defeat when he saw it, Drifter turned and walked into the small bathroom. The tub had a pump handle at one end and when he worked it he found the water pouring out to be room temperature if not exactly hot. Deciding he had endured worse, he stripped out of his filthy, ratty old garments and sank gingerly into the water. There was soap and cloths on a small tray next to the table so he started to clean himself off, paying special attention to the wound on the left of his ribcage. It took the better part of a half an hour before he was clean enough that he thought she might accept it, and the climbed out of the tub and dried off. She must have heard him, because she called from the other room, “Don’t put that shirt on till I have a look at your wound. I don’t want you getting blood on it.”

Drifter emerged from the bathroom naked from the waist up, wearing a pair of snug fitting soft leather pants and boots that had apparently belonged at one point to Calistone Grasamere. He found Tasha standing at the wood stove, heating water and cooking a small meal for the two of them. She turned and smiled when she saw him, pausing to examine him with a rather frank stare. He wasn’t a handsome man, but he did clean up well. His black hair was true black and had grown long in his years on the streets, so that it hung below his shoulders, which she saw were rather broader than they usually appeared. This was due to his tendency to stoop, she knew, which was because he was a man with a self esteem problem. His arms, shoulders and chest were surprisingly muscular, but not bulky and all of it covered in a thick layer of black hair. His face was narrow and rather too long, his mouth, while generous of lip was also narrow and he had a long nose that had obviously been broken at least once though probably more in the past. His eyes were set a little too close to the bridge of his nose, but they were clear, compassionate and intelligent.

“You clean up well.” She said to him.

“Thank you milady.” He said with a nod.

She shook her head. “You know, I’ve never stood much on tradition. After saving me from a gang rape, I think you’ve earned the right to call me Tasha.”

He blinked and she could be his expression that he had difficulty with that concept. She wondered at what kind of a past he might have had that instilled such a deep sense of societal structure in him. “Sit down at the table there.” She instructed him, pointing to a small table with two chairs. Drifter nodded and moved to the table, taking one of the chairs and spinning it around, then straddling it and crossing his arms over its back. Tasha took her pot of boiling water and a small box of first aid supplies she kept on hand for those times when she or Gyle would cut themselves while crafting bows and arrows. She approached the table and circled around behind him, the better to access the cut on his left side. When she saw his bare back she couldn’t stifle a gasp, her striking seafoam green eyes widening in surprised horror. His back was a road map of scars, at least fifty long welts crisscrossing from the shoulders down to below the hem of the pants he wore. She reached out and touched them gently, her fingertips trembling slightly. “Goddess.” She breathed slightly.

He turned his head slightly, able to see her face from the corner of his eye. “A remnant from another life.”

Tasha shook her head briskly to clear it, then realized she was acting foolish and nodded, crouching at his side and looking more closely at the wound. Drifter looked down and to his side at her, then his gaze traveled lower despite himself, drawn by the tantalizing view of cleavage visible down the front of her dress. She caught his stare in her peripheral vision and smirked slightly, “Eyes up soldier.”

His gaze snapped up and he turned his head back forward, staring at the wall. “Sorry ma’am.” He said it so automatically that she got the impression he had been trained to it.

Then she understood. “It’s all right Drifter, I was kidding. Like I told you, I’ve long since grown accustomed to the attention of males. For reasons unknown to me the Goddess graced me with a form and face that men find appealing, I can’t blame them for looking.” ‘It’s when they attempt more than looking that I get insulted.’ She thought but didn’t say.

“You’re probably the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” He said it softly, as though he were afraid the words might infuriate her.

They had quite the opposite effect, she colored slightly and smiled, hiding it by leaning in and working at cleaning the wound on his side. “Thank you Drifter, it’s sweet of you to say.” She worked in silence for a few moments, then as she placed gauze over the cut and started to wrap a bandage around his broad chest she said, “So you were a soldier.” He glanced at her sharply, alarm in his eyes and she spoke again in what she hoped was a soothing voice. “It’s just that when I joked a moment ago, I called you soldier and you responded so quickly… obviously you’re used to following orders. It gets ingrained into you after a certain amount of time.”

He had stiffened visibly at her words and she wondered again at the history that could have caused such stress in the man. He relaxed after a moment though and responded, “I was a soldier once… a long time ago.”

Tasha wanted to know more about him, found that she was fascinated by this man who she had previously thought to be just a down on his luck… well… drifter. But she didn’t want to pry, knowing that it was really none of her business. “There!” She said, standing up and taking the first aid supplies to a cupboard. “You can put that shirt on now.”

He started to shrug into the shirt, saying, “You have a healers touch mil… er… Tasha.”

She smiled, turning to the cook stove and busying herself there. “I’ve had to learn to dress small wounds and things running the orphanage. Children tend to be rather accident prone. And there’s this place. You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to cut yourself when your crafting archery supplies!”

The smells coming from the stove were causing his stomach to growl, and he realized he hadn’t eaten a decent meal in days, maybe even weeks. She was about to say something else when the sound of footfalls on the stairs leading up from the shop reached her ears. She turned in time to see Gyle appear at the top of the stairs, smiling slightly as he glanced over at her. “Something smells good!” Then he noticed the human sitting at the table and he frowned, glancing from Drifter to Tasha and back again.

“Gyle!” she said, trying to sound happy to see him, even if she wasn’t really. “You know Drifter?” She motioned at her guest and the half-orc’s eyes widened as he realized who was sitting there.

“Of course, I just didn’t recognize him without dirt and grime caked all over him.” Tasha scowled at his rudeness, but said nothing. The young bowyer approached the table and stuck out his hand, “Don’t think we’ve ever been properly introduced… Kir’Gyle Zinn. I’m Tasha’s partner in the shop downstairs.”

Tasha scowled at that, for she had never actually made him a partner. He was more of an employee, but she said nothing in front of Drifter. The human stood up and she realized that the half-orc was a little taller than him and broader, more heavily muscled. They shook and Drifter winced slightly as Gyle squeezed his hand in a powerful grip. “I asked Drifter here to thank him for his help the other night, during the attack on the temple. He was wounded, so I wanted to dress the wound and offer him a meal.”

“The wound wasn’t all you dressed.” The half-orc said, glancing at the clothes he no doubt recognized as having belonged to his former master. “But of course, he deserves our thanks.” While the young half-orc smiled, Tasha couldn’t help noticing it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Drifter reclaimed his hand from the others grip and turned to Tasha. “I appreciate the offer of a meal, but I should probably be going.”

“Hot date?” Gyle asked and Tasha thought she saw something like anger spike in Drifter’s gaze for a moment, but it faded just as quickly.

“Don’t be ridiculous Drifter!” She said, not wanting him to leave now if for no other reason than she really didn’t want to be alone with Gyle at the moment. “The food is ready and you can’t have eaten well for a while.” He met her gaze and she thought he might have read something there, because he nodded and sat back down. Relieved, Tasha looked at Gyle, “I would ask you to join us, but I don’t really have enough here for three, and there are only two chairs.”

He had been glaring at the back of Drifters’ head before she spoke, now he turned and looked at her, smiling coldly. “No problem… I’m supposed to meet Sammy at the tavern anyway. I only came up to tell you that we had a good day today. A couple of local scouts came in to restock, but we’re all closed up for the night.”

She nodded. “Thank you for your help with the shop Gyle, I appreciate it. With the attack and father being so ill… I haven’t had much time to focus on things here.”

He took a deep breath, the nostrils of his broad nose flaring so that she thought again that he was inhaling her scent, even from across the room. He seemed to relax visibly, then he nodded, “It’s really no problem. There’s nothing happening in the shop that I can’t manage.” He shot another furious glance at Drifter, then turned toward the stairs again, “I’ll see you later.” With that he was gone, jogging down the stairs with a vigor energized by his own anger and prejudice.

“He’s a cheery one.” Drifter said after the young bowyer had gone.

Tasha sighed, carrying two plates to the table and setting one down in front of him. It was heaped with beef, potatoes and an assortment of vegetables that made Drifter’s stomach rumble in response. As she went to retrieve utensils she said, “Gyle means well, mostly. He had been Calistone’s apprentice for about two years before he died. Afterward, he ran the shop for me so I wouldn’t have to shut it down while I focused on the orphanage. He’s been a Godsend, truly, but for the last couple of years, since I’ve been returning my focus to the shop, he’s been….”

“He’s young, he lives here with you and you are, as I’ve already stated, an uncommonly beautiful woman. It’s understandable that he should be confused about that.” She returned to the table, placed utensils and a glass of wine on the table in front of him. He paused in reaching for the fork, his gaze falling on the glass and something like sadness came into his eyes. Standing behind him, she didn’t see it, but by the time she was seated across from him, it was gone and he was attacking his meal with gusto.

As she too started to eat she shook her head. “I think it’s more than that. Having been Calistone’s apprentice, I think that Gyle feels that what had been Cal’s should now be his. The shop… and me.”

He glanced up at her across the table, “He makes you nervous living here?”

She paused as she chewed a piece of the tender steak, considering her answer. Finally she shook her head, “Not nervous really, no. But I do think it’s time for him to find someplace else to live. I don’t want to cut him out of the shop, he’s earned the right to stay and help me run it… but that bit earlier about being my partner?” She shook her head. “I don’t have any partners. At least not here, my adoptive daughter Sheridian is a full partner in her orphanage now, though she doesn’t yet know that.”

“You should speak to Gyle before too much more time passes. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for him to understand or accept that you don’t want him here.” The human told her.

Tasha paused with a fork full of carrots half way to her mouth and smiled at him, “You know, you’re not at all what one would expect from a man in your… position.”

“No?” He asked, popping another bite of the delicious steak into his mouth.

“No, you’re obviously educated. You’re a former soldier with no small skill in combat, as I’ve seen first hand. You have impeccable manners and a rare idea of societal standing… you’re an odd man to figure Drifter.” She laughed, “I don’t even know your real name!”

His brows came together in a slight frown at that, but rather than speak of himself, he turned the conversation back on her. “The same could be said of you milady.” She opened her mouth to speak but he put a hand up to stop her. “Sorry… Tasha. You’re a beautiful woman of noble birth, yourself well educated, but rather than marrying another noble and furthering the status of your house you married a foreigner that, by everything I’ve heard, had no real social standing. You chose to learn his trade and have become, by all accounts, quite good at it. You have a charitable heart, shown by the founding of the orphanage you’ve been running for ten years and you cared enough about a homeless drifter to invite him into your home, dress his wounds, clothe him and feed him. That last is not something any noble woman from my homeland would ever have done, they would have been afraid I would have raped them… or perhaps worse.”

She laughed lightly. “Well, I wasn’t worried about that last. If you’ll recall you kind of had an opportunity to make good on that two nights ago. You could have taken out those guards and then had me to yourself the whole night if you had so chosen. As to marrying a foreigner…” she sighed sadly, thinking of her lost love, “…Calistone was a wild elf it’s true. But I married for love, and that was something my parents supported. Nobles we may be, but we are a family first and we are concerned more for each others happiness than anything else. When I lost Calistone, the orphanage was my means of coping with the loss….” She trailed off, lowering her face and continuing to eat.

“I’m sorry mil… Tasha, I didn’t mean to….”

She cut him off with a shake of her head, saying, “No, it’s all right. You didn’t do anything that requires apology. I’ve only just been reminded of something that happened earlier, a possible new development in Calistone’s death.” Then, because she had to tell someone and for some reason she couldn’t yet fathom she trusted Drifter, she told him everything that had happened in the interrogation room with Toxyn earlier, and about finding her late husband’s dagger among the assassin’s gear. She ended with, “So you see… they’re going to extradite him soon and I’ll lose the only chance I have of saving my father, getting my mother back or finding out what really happened ten years ago. There are several things that don’t feel right about that raid, that have never felt right. Questions I’ve wanted answered, and while he might not have the answers, I’m starting to think that he knows who will.”

They finished the rest of the meal in silence, brooding over their own thoughts. Finally, after Tasha had cleared away the plates and brought him a second glass of wine he said, “You said earlier that family has always been the most important thing to you. Was that true?”

“Of course.” She said, sitting down across from him again, one hand curled around her own wine glass.

“Then it strikes me that you should be wanting more than anything to get Toxyn out of that jailhouse, right?” He added.

She nodded. “Yes, but Sneed said he can’t just release him, he’s already told his superiors about him. My options seem non-existant.”

He shook his head. “Not true.” She frowned, cocking her head slightly at him. “Is the rescue of your mother, the cure for your father and the information about that raid ten years ago more important to you than anything else?”

“Yes.” She said emphatically and without hesitation.

“Then it seems you need to be thinking about a jail break.” He said it bluntly and without inflection.

Tasha stared at him blankly for a moment, blinking as thoughts whirled through her head. At first she thought the idea absurd, she would be making herself an outlaw to do it. Then she realized that being viewed as a criminal was nothing when compared to the chance of losing her parents. Slowly she reasoned herself around to seeing his point and she looked at him with fear in her eyes. “By the Goddess, you’re right. I have to break him out of that jail or I lose the only chance I’ve got of helping my parents.” She shook her head. “But I’ve never contemplated anything like this before. I have no idea where to begin.”

He sighed and said, “Well, fortunately for you, I have. If you like, I’ll help you plan it.”

-4-

The first thing they had to do, according to Drifter, was to find out what information they could about when they were transferring Toxyn. Tasha knew from Sneed that his superiors had already dispatched people to come and take custody of the assassin. She needed to know when they were expected to arrive, how many there would be and what route they might be taking. All of this was necessary, according to Drifter, to figure out the best time and place for a breakout. Though she didn’t like the thought of it much, Tasha had agreed that there was no one in town that was going to talk to him, and that meant that she would have to gather the intelligence. Though she loathed using her good looks to her advantage in that way, she wasn’t exactly a stranger to it. She had seen her sister cause men to turn to putty in her hands within a few moments, and she herself was no slouch in the seduction department when it was called for. She just didn’t like to do it.

Drifter had left her apartment shortly thereafter to scout out the jail for himself from the outside. He had promised to return to her apartment the next day to finalize their plans for the jail break, which would give her the night to do what she needed to do. Tasha had bathed in scented oils, done her hair up in a fetching pile atop her head and donned an outfit that would turn heads without being ostentatious, which would also raise eyebrows. She was not a woman prone to ostentatious dress, that was her sister. So Tasha had opted for a silk blouse and snug cotton pants tucked into boots that rose to just below her knees. She wore a string of pearls about her slender neck and a gem studded belt about her waist and that was all.

She decided that the best source of information about the assassin was going to be a guard, but she had to be careful who she chose because she knew that most of them wouldn’t come near her under order of the colonel and Flynn. She had heard long ago that the two men had laid explicit orders that she was off limits, though they didn’t seem to have any qualms themselves about competing for her. She knew that the guardsmen, when off duty, tended to frequent only one of Hanover’s three taverns that catered to them, offering the men a discount. It wasn’t a place she often frequented specifically because the guards were often found there. It was a lower quality place on the shore road, a block down from the garrison called the Bait and Tackle. It used to cater to the crews of the fishing boats that called Hanover’s port their homes, but since the guards had arrived in Hanover they had started taking their business elsewhere.

As she made her way down the street Tasha was aware of the stares of the men she passed, several of them guards and a few sailors from visiting ships. She would ignore their stares for the most part, though she had decided on a roll for the evening and so when one of the guards whistled appreciatively at her she rewarded him with a dazzling smile. She had decided that tonight she was going to make a show of needing to blow off some steam, having finally had enough of the stresses of the last few days. She didn’t think anyone would question that, considering what her family had been through recently.

She arrived at the Bait and Tackle about an hour after the sun had gone down so the night was fully dark. She paused before pushing through the swinging doors, deciding on the spur of the moment to unbutton the top three buttons on her blouse and then she entered, pausing just inside to take in the atmosphere of the place. It was pretty busy, with all the tables full and most of the space at the bar taken up. There was a lot of raucous laughter and tinkling of glass, the screeches of barmaids as they were felt up and from one corner of the room, near a small dance floor, a group of three men played passably good music on their battered old instruments. When Tasha walked in the entire place went quiet as every male head in the room turned and regarded her. She tried hard not to appear self conscious as their stares openly undressed her, the men in the room made bolder by the ample consumption of alcohol.

“Good evening gentlemen.” She said to them, her full lips spreading in a dazzling smile. “Don’t mind me, I just came in for a drink.” As she crossed the room she scanned the occupants without moving her head too much. Her heart sank slightly to find Gyle there, seated at a table with his friend Morris, who was one of the town guard. Both young men were staring at her in open admiration and she even saw Gyle rub at his crotch, which made her wince inwardly. But on the other side of the room, standing at the far corner of the bar, was none other than Tanner Flynn, Rancyd’s little brother and Tasha zeroed in on him, already thinking of her opener. As she moved across the room the sound level slowly increased to normal, though she could feel that she was still the center of attention and likely the topic of most, if not all of the conversations.

Her keen elven hearing detected several phrases like, “Haven’t seen her in here before!” Or, “The bitch doesn’t usually rub elbows with the likes of us!”

She reached the corner of the bar and though he was trying like hell to make it look like he hadn’t noticed her, she could tell he was ogling her from the corner of his eye as she stepped up next to Tanner at the bar, leaning slightly to the side and bumping him with her hip. “Hey there.”

He glanced over at her in the reflection of the mirror that ran the length of the wall behind the bar, met her stunning green eyes with his own and colored before he had even muttered, “Milady.” She could smell the alcohol on him and he wasn’t the most stable on his feet. Already two sheets to the wind… perfect. “Rather unusual to find you here, milady.”

“Actually, that’s the reason I came. I figured if I wanted to blow off some steam, better to do it where no one really knows me.” She smiled at him, shrugged her shoulders which made her breasts rise and fall invitingly. His eyes tracked their movement, then he grew even redder and tried to look away. “I’m glad to find you here, actually. I said I wanted to thank you properly for your help the other night, remember?” He looked back at her, seeming to find it easier to meet her gaze in the reflection behind the bar. He nodded, and she laughed, reaching over to hook her arm around his, making a show of testing the swell of his bicep and widening her eyes as though impressed, which wasn’t hard. He was a well muscled young man. “Let me buy you a drink.” At that point the bartender, a man she didn’t know, came over and got an eyeful of Tasha’s cleavage while he waited for them to order. Tasha regarded the man, tall and rawboned with dull brown eyes, a bald head and several days growth of beard. He wore a stained apron and had a dirty rag tucked into the waist of it. “I’ll have a fey wine,” said to the bartender, “and whatever my young friend here drinks for the rest of the night is on me.” The barkeep nodded and turned to Tanner, who just tapped his mug of ale. A few moments later their drinks were in front of them and the bartender had moved on.

Tasha made a big show of looking around the tavern, letting her eyes rove over the other men in the room, many of them returning her looks in kind. She kept her arm hooked through his though, and when her gaze came to rest on the trio of musicians she smiled and turned with an excited expression to Tanner. “Do you dance?”

His eyes widened with sudden terror, “Uh….”

“Excellent!” she cooed, and then she was off, dragging him through the crowd toward the dance floor. Once they were on the small tiled floor Tasha turned to face him and raised her eyebrows. Tanner, figuring he was already there so why not?, stepped forward and slipped an arm about her waist, then took her hand in his. He kept himself a respectful distance away from her, trying very hard to be proper. They started to dance around the floor and Tasha, smirking, looked down at the gap between them. “Tanner,” she said softly, “I won’t bite… unless you want me to!” He swallowed audibly and on their next step she closed the gap, pressing high breasts firmly against his chest and his gaze dropped instantly to where they were visible in the gap of her blouse, now pushed up even higher into the V by their close proximity to his own chest. His mouth suddenly went very dry and Tasha thought for certain that when her thigh brushed the front of his pants she felt a raging erection there. ‘Great Lady!’ she thought ‘He’s hung like an elephant!’

All around them people were watching them dance around the floor, and thankfully they weren’t the only ones dancing or she thought Tanner might have died from embarrassment. She danced quietly for a time, keeping herself pressed snugly against him, moving as little as possible but rubbing against him every time she did. He started sweating slightly and she knew just having her this close to him was driving him nuts. After they had made it half way through the song they were dancing to she thought he was far enough gone to start leading him toward telling her what she wanted to know.

“So Tanner… is that filthy assassin really going to be extradited to stand trial for crimes around here?” She asked him.

He didn’t answer right away and she wondered for a moment if she had started her questioning too soon. When he finally spoke she got the impression that he had paused solely to keep his voice from cracking. “Yes, it’s true.”

She nodded, then leaned in and laid her head on his shoulder, her face turned toward his neck. “Good, that bastard deserves to hang for what he did to my family.” That wasn’t a hard line to deliver, she actually believed it. It galled her to know that she had no alternative but to free Toxyn and then work with him to achieve her ends. She moved her head forward slightly and pressed her lips to the base of his neck. She felt a shiver of excitement run through him. “Colonel Sneed told me some men were coming to take custody of him. When are they going to be here?”

“Uhm… to…tomorrow I think. Yeah, they’re supposed to be taking him out of here tomorrow.” The soldier informed her.

Tasha frowned, the expression hidden from him as her face was still nuzzled up to his neck. If the soldiers were taking Toxyn tomorrow, then that could mean she would have to break him out of jail that very night! She would have to find Drifter when she was done here. “I really hope you have that son of a bitch under adequate guard over there in the garrison, I’d hate for anything to happen before he got extradited.”

“It’s just the usual guard compliment… you think we should increase it? I could speak to my brother.” He suggested.

Her heart leapt, “No! No, I have the utmost faith in the abilities of Hanovers guardsmen. I’m sure whatever your brother and Sneed have set up is perfectly acceptable.” The music stopped then as the musicians decided to take a break. Tasha started to step away from Tanner but his arm suddenly tightened about her waist, drawing her in closer against him and his lips found hers. Her eyes widened in surprise and her body stiffened, but only for a moment as she remembered that she had been playing this roll since she walked in. She closed her eyes, forced herself to relax and slid her hand up his arm, tracing the young soldiers bicep and then cradling the back of his neck with her hand, whimpering slightly as she pulled her soft lips harder against his. One of his hands slid down, squeezed her rounded buttocks through the soft cotton pants and pulled her crotch firmly against his, so now she couldn’t mistake that erection for anything but what it was. There were some hoots and hollers from around the room as other patrons in the Bait and Tackle became aware of the passionate liplock. Their cajoling urged Tanner on and she felt the tip of his tongue probing at her lips. ‘Oh Hellfire!’ she thought, parting her lips and admitting his organ. His tongue plunged into her warm mouth, questing about and finding her own, then wrestling with it. She started to feel sorry for the boy, because there was no way she was going to follow through with this, and judging by the state of his manhood that would be a rather painful thing for him.

After letting the kiss drag on for about a minute, she placed her palms firmly against Tanner Flynn’s chest and pushed back. He reluctantly released her and she stepped away, coloring prettily at the sudden round of applause that erupted all around them. Tanner was flushed and breathing hard, highly aroused and Tasha had to admit the kid was a good kisser… if a little over zealous with the tongue. “I need to powder my nose Tanner.” She said, patting him lightly on the shoulder. “I’ll be right back ok?” He nodded and she turned toward the back door, out which she knew was an outhouse. As she headed toward it she saw Gyle standing to one side, watching her with a perplexed and obviously angry expression on his face. She raised a hand to him, a silent plea for him to wait till later for an explanation, then she was out the back door in the cool wash of the night air. She didn’t go to the outhouse though, instead she turned left and headed back into town, needing to go home and then to find Drifter.

Tasha was certain she and Drifter would need to move tonight to break Toxyn from jail and that meant she had to be ready to go at once. One of the things Drifter had told her was that her life as a noble woman in Hanover was going to be over once they did this. Even if she wasn’t seen during the breakout, she was going to have to leave town with Toxyn and once she was sound to be missing people were going to figure out her role. He had told her to make certain that whatever she left behind would be able to survive without her, and that meant the orphanage and the bowyer shop. She knew the orphanage would be all right because her sister Kally would take care of Sheridian and Sheridian would take care of the orphans. It was Grasamere’s, the bowyer shop, that she worried about because the only one in town that was qualified to run it was Gyle and she didn’t think he was ready. She had decided not to go to Sheridian or Kally about her decision, she didn’t want either of them to implicated if it came out that they had prior knowledge, but she was going to have to speak to Gyle. He was too much of an unknown in this… she didn’t know how he might react.

As it happened, by the time she got back to her apartment after taking a longer route via back alleys, Gyle was already waiting for her. She walked into her apartment through the back door and there he was, standing in the center of her sitting room with his muscular arms crossed over his burly chest, glowering at her. “You want to tell me what hell that was about?”

She scowled at him darkly, “I don’t like your tone Gyle. I’m at perfect liberty to dance with and kiss whomever I like. Tanner Flynn was rather heroic two nights ago and I was merely… thanking him.”

She was walking past him toward her bedroom when he retorted, “Drifter was more heroic than Flynn was… how did you thank him? Sex?”

Tasha rounded on him quickly, her hand flashing up and scoring a solid blow across his face, turning it to the side and rocking him back slightly on his heels. “How dare you imply such a thing? Besides which… it’s none of your damn business if I did have sex with Drifter! I’m a grown woman and single Gyle, remember? I wouldn’t be cheating on anyone!”

He turned his head slowly back to face her, his eyes like ice. She stood her ground though that look in his eyes gave her a moments hesitation. “You expect me to believe for even half a second that you were acting like a slut,” she moved to slap him again and he caught her hand in his, “simply to thank Tanner Flynn for his help the other night?” He shook his head, the red tinged skin to either side of his black Mohawk reflecting the lantern light. “I can’t believe it… you’re too concerned with how the people of this town perceive you.”

He was squeezing her wrist and it was starting to hurt, plus he was holding her arm up high, forcing her to her tiptoes and thus preventing her from trying to slap him again. “Gyle… you’re hurting me.” She said, her voice still possessed of that sharp edge of anger, but also strained with pain.

He didn’t release her right away, just leaned his head in so that it was only a few inches from her face, “Tell me what’s really going on.”

She glared at him for a few moments, the she said, “Let go of me and I will.” He released her wrist and she staggered back a step, rubbing it with her other hand as she regarded him. He had been drinking, that was obvious, and he seemed to be having a fit of jealousy. There was a chance that this was not going to go well, but he was also between her and either exit from the apartment. “I needed information.” She told him, pitching her voice low, trying to sound calm and reasonable. He looked confused, so she elaborated. “On the assassin Toxyn, when he was being extradited… how many men would be guarding him… how many men are guarding him now.”

“Why do you want to know that stuff?” he demanded, seeming more confused than ever.

She hesitated even longer now, uncertain if she should trust him with this information at all, much less when he had been drinking. “I’m going to break him out of jail.”

“What?!” he gasped out, incredulous. “Why?!”

She winced, glancing around to see if any windows were open. He was getting loud and she didn’t need any of this conversation to carry to the streets. “I’m not being left with much option, he has information that I need to rescue my mother, to cure my father and I suspect he knows what was really going on ten years ago when Calistone disappeared.”

“So question him in the jail! You don’t have to break him out!” Gayle was nearly shouting and she held up both hands, patting the air in the a calming gesture, trying to quiet him.

“But I do. You think I haven’t tried to question him? He refuses to tell me anything so long as he’s in jail. The only way I can get him to help me with my parents plight is to break him out!” Tasha was nearly pleading, she couldn’t afford this hold up.

He scowled darkly, his thick black brows coming together as he processed what she had told him. “So he’s blackmailing you into breaking him out of jail? Is that it?”

She thought about that for a moment, then she shrugged and nodded. “Yes, I guess he is. I mean, he hasn’t held a blunderbuss to my head or anything but yeah.”

“I’d have never thought you could bend to blackmail.” He said in a low voice, his expression showing that he was in deep thought.

“Normally I wouldn’t, but I’m not being given much of a choice here.” She said emphatically. “I really hope you can understand that Gyle, because I need you to….”

He cut her off abruptly, “Oh I understand all right.” She frowned at him, picking up something dark and rather foreboding in his tone. “You’ll be leaving with the assassin… and Drifter right? The bum is helping you as well?” Tasha nodded, saying nothing. “All right, so you’re running off on a grand adventure with an assassin and a homeless guy. You’ll be dead within a week and I’ll never have….” He trailed off, his yellow and black eyes suddenly taking on a hungry gleam that made her very nervous as they roamed boldly over her. “I guess if it takes blackmail to get anywhere with you, than you’re not leaving me any choice either!”

“Gyle?” she said, confused.

“Well I’m a fine, upstanding citizen of Hanover right? I’ve just been informed that there’s about to be a crime committed! I need to go to the guards and warn them!” He turned on his heel and headed for the door.

“NO! Gyle… you can’t do that!” she said, taking two steps after him.

He stopped, his hand on the doorknob and turned his head to regard her over his shoulder. “Can’t I? What else am I supposed to do Tasha? What other options can you offer me?”

Her heart sank as she understood what he was doing, and she stood there in the middle of the room and glared at him. “You bastard.” He turned from the door and leaned one shoulder against it, folding his arms across his torso and smiling wickedly. “What do you want?”

He pushed off the door with his elbow and approached her quietly, his eyes alight with a completely different kind of hunger. She stood perfectly still, not offering resistance or encouragement as the young half-orc stopped in front of her, extended one muscular arm and trailed the black, claw like nail of his index finger down the neckline of her shirt, starting at one collar bone and moving down, paying special attention to the cleavage still visible over the three undone buttons, and moving up to the other collar bone. “I think you know what I want. It’s what I’ve wanted from the first day I ever set eyes on you!”

“You were… what? Eight? Nine?” She asked, still offering him nothing in the way of encouragement or resistance.

He shrugged, “Even then I knew.” He moved his other hand up now and started to slowly unbutton her blouse, starting at the fourth button, then the fifth.

Tasha reached up and crossed her arms over the top of his, gripping his left wrist in her left hand and his right wrist in her right, pinning his hands to her chest lightly. “Gyle… your reasoning is flawed.”

He seemed perfectly content to let his hands stay there, smiling more broadly as he spread his fingers across the firm round swell of her breasts, squeezing them through the thin material of the blouse. “Oh?”

She nodded, her vibrant light green eyes locked with his, her expression revealing no emotion though she was raging with anger inside. “My working with Drifter is necessary, because he has skills and knowledge that I don’t.” She paused, then continued. “Seducing Tanner Flynn, while unfortunate, was also necessary because he had information that I needed.” She shook her head, “But having sex with you is not necessary.”

He scowled, “I disagree… if you don’t, I’ll go to Sneed right now and turn you in for what you’re planning.” Tasha suddenly and violently uncrossed her arms and twisted to her right, forcing his arms to cross and staggering him forward and to his left. She brought her right knee up into his gut, hard enough to lift his feet off the floor, then twisted back to her left, driving her elbow into his face. He was forced to straighten, staggering and grunting under the blow, but Tasha retained her grip on his right arm and as he staggered back she jerked him forward, keeping him off balance and jerked his arm down and back. Gyle cried out in surprise as he flipped through the air and landed on his back, blinking up at the ceiling. The last thing he saw was the movement of Tasha’s leg as she kicked him in the side of the head, knocking him cold. She dropped to one knee and pressed two fingers to the side of his throat, checking his pulse. “By the time you wake up, I’ll already be a fugitive and it won’t matter if you tell Sneed what you know or not.” After making certain his pulse was strong and that he was going to live, she retracted her hand and gazed down into his slack face, sighing, “Calistone had such high hopes for you.”

With that she turned and stood up, glancing around the room, trying to get her bearings and figure out what she needed to do next. What had she been preparing to do when Gyle had interrupted her? Find Drifter… because they needed to move tonight. As if on cue there came a light rapping at the door to her apartment. Frowning, she moved toward it and called softly from a few feet away, “Who is it?”

After a moment’s pause, the answer came back just as softly, “Drifter.” She didn’t know him well enough to recognize his voice that easily, but she thought it sounded like him. She approached the door and opened it a crack, peering out and seeing him standing uncertainly in her late husband’s clothes on the landing outside her door. When she was certain it was him she opened the door fully and he started to speak, but his voice died on his tongue as his eyes widened and moved down to her blouse, which she only realized just then was still hanging open.

“Oh!” she said and turned away quickly, buttoning the buttons all the way back up, including the top three this time.

When she turned back to the door the human had gotten his self control back. “I heard a shout and…” his gaze drifted past her shoulder and when he saw Gyle lying unconscious on the floor his brows shot up, “…ah.”

Tasha glanced back at the half-orc and nodded. “My late husband’s former apprentice finally tried to push things too far with me. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

He looked at her with apparent respect, “Beautiful and formidable… duly noted.”

She smiled slightly, then stepped to one side and motioned him in. “I’m actually glad you’re here, I need to speak to you.”

“I was getting ready to bed down outside, under your stairs so I’d be close by if I was needed.” He informed her.

Tasha was give a moment’s pause by this. Could she really see herself teaming up with a man who had no home, no career… who lived on the streets? Then she remembered how he had dismantled the town guard two night previously and pushed her doubts aside. “I learned from Tanner Flynn earlier that they intend to move Toxyn as early as tomorrow, to extradite him to the Imperial Capitol to stand trial for crimes committed here in Aldonia. That means….”

He cut her off, “…that we have to move tonight to break him out.”

She nodded her agreement with that assessment. “Did you get what you needed from your reconnaissance of the jail?”

Drifter sighed, closing his eyes and taking a moment to sift through everything he knew. “I believe so. You remembered Sneed telling you earlier that Toxyn was being held on the third floor, you saw them take his gear out of the evidence room. Did you find out how many guards on him while in the cell?”

She nodded, “No more than a normal compliment while he’s locked up, though I’m afraid I don’t really know how many that is. Tanner said no more than three, but I’m not sure that information can be fully trusted.”

Drifter nodded. “He was probably telling you the truth. A shift sergeant on the desk for emergency reports, a three man patrol inside for the prisoners… the other guards on shift will be patrolling the streets, and they might be a problem on the way out of town.” He nodded, satisfied they had everything they needed. “Are you ready for this? You understand what this will mean for your future?”

She took a deep breath, could see him fight not to look at her chest, and said, “It will make me a fugitive from the law. I’ll likely have a price on my head and the crown will seize everything I own.” She shook her head and shrugged. “The only thing I care about now is the orphanage, and I’ve already long since taken care of its future with Sheridian. This place...” she glanced around a little sadly, “…there are a lot of memories here, sure, but it can be replaced one day.” She looked him in the eye, “This is about saving my parents and restoring the stolen items from the…” she nearly said Dark Vault but caught herself, “…temple.” If he caught her slip, he gave no indication. “That’s more important than my legal situation.”

He nodded, “All right, how long do you need to prepare? You’ll have to pack for the road, but lightly. Remember that you’ll not be able to come back here after we’re done. Bring what coin you have on hand, proper clothing for any situation you can foresee and weapons if you’ve got them.”

She nodded. “What about you? Have you any weapons?”

“I’ll take care of myself later. While you prepare, I’m going to go up to your families home and select a trio of horses from the stables, is that all right?” he asked her.

She nodded. “Of course. Mine is the charger with the golden mane.”

He shook his head. “If you care for the animal leave it here, because we will likely have to sell or eat these beasts before we’re done.”

Tasha paled slightly at the thought of eating her beloved horse, Guardian. “Leave him here then. I’ll get my things together and meet you… where?”

“Behind the jail in… say… one hour?” he suggested.

“That should give me enough time.” She agreed. He nodded and turned back for the door, nearly tripped over Gyle.

“What about him?” he asked.

“I doubt he’ll wake up before we’re done, but I’ll see that he isn’t a problem if he does.” She assured the human, and then he was gone. She heard his heavy footfalls on the wooden stairs out back, then nothing. She was alone, and suddenly she felt it like she rarely had before. She stood in the center of the room, gazing around quietly and felt tears burning in her eyes. She shook off the feeling and reminded herself, “Focus! There’s work to be done and not a lot of time to do it in.” She spun on her heel and first went downstairs to the shop. She retrieved a quiver from their stock and a large supply of their best arrows to fill it, then she grabbed some leather strips from the workshop and brought it all upstairs. With the leather strips she bound Gyle hand and foot, then she took the quiver and arrows into the bedroom and started to prepare for what lay ahead, though she admitted that she really had no idea what she would need to pack for a life as a fugitive, but she did the best she could. A couple of her favorite dresses, some night clothes and toiletry essentials. A bare minimum of feminine products and then what food stores she had on hand that could fit into Calistone’s old adventuring pack, which she had decided to use. Then it came time to pull out her hunting leathers, which Calistone had made for her back when they were first courting, having decided to use long sessions of teaching her to shoot out in the forest as a means to winning to her over. She had caught on to his plan early on, of course, but she was already so enamored of him by then that she had just decided to let it work. He had, of course, designed the leathers with a male’s eye toward fashion, so it was a little more revealing than she might have liked, but certainly it was extremely functional.

She laid the leathers out on the bed and regarded them for a moment, making certain it was all there. Then she stripped from her pants and blouse, packing them along with the jeweled belt and boots, which were among her favorites, into the pack. She picked up the black leather pants, which were made of a type of leather developed by gnomes called soft stretch. She pulled them on over her long, shapely legs, noting the way they conformed to the lines of her calves, thighs and hips. Then she pulled on the soft wool tunic, which was green with the neckline so low cut she had to roll her eyes at the amount of ample cleavage visible above it. From there she shrugged into the dark brown leather vest that cinched up the front like a corset, compressing her boobs and pushing them up higher into the equally low cut neckline. On her shoulders she placed a pair of leather spaulders, or shoulder guards with the head of a panther emblazoned upon them, the symbol of the Grasamere family she had married into. She stepped into a pair of knee high, heavy leather boots that were very supple and easy to walk long distances in. She strapped a broad leather belt about her slender waist, hanging from it the quiver and a scabbard with Calistone’s old sword, Elven Grace on her opposite hip. Riding now at the small of her back too was the dagger that Toxyn had brought to town with him. Finally, the last thing she grabbed was her longbow, personally crafted to fit her hand of ash, one of the best woods for crafting archery and easily found in Aldonia. It was about four and half feet long and recurved at the ends to allow added range. This she hooked over one shoulder, the string running diagonally across her chest, between her breasts. With a final, farewell glance around the room, the archer left her apartment for what might well be the last time.

She paused on the landing outside her door and took a deep breath of the clean coastal air. The last vestiges of the smoke from the temple fire had drifted away, which she was happy about. She didn’t want her memories of this place to be tainted by that smell. Glancing up at what was visible of the sky from the alley behind her shop she realized she still had a half an hour before she had to meet with Drifter and she turned her head to glance in the direction of the orphanage. ‘Yes,’ she decided, ‘one more stop to make before I leave.’ She descended the stairs quickly but quietly and cut through the alley, not only to save time but to cut down on the chances of a guard patrol seeing her decked out in her hunting leathers. Not such an unusual sight on its own, people saw her dressed for hunting all the time, but usually not in the middle of the night. That was certain to raise eyebrows.

So good was her knowledge of the layout of Hanover that she stayed to the alleys until she had to cross Temple Street. She emerged from the alley quietly and glanced to her left and right, noting a patrol of guards coming up the street toward her. She stepped back into the heavier shadows and kept herself quiet, crouched down near the mouth of the alley. The guard drew near and her keen hearing, trademark of her race, picked up the thread of their quiet conversation.

“I’m telling you she’s interested! I’m planning on asking her out.” Said one of the guards, a tall strapping young human with dark hair and sun bronzed skin.

The other soldiers laughed, “That one?” Said one of the men, “Cold as ice she is. Came to a town dance a month ago and when I asked her to dance she flat turned me down.”

“That’s cause you’re an ugly cuss.” Said another man and they all laughed at that, including the guard who had just been insulted.

“Her whole family has a great deal of enmity toward the town guard, they’ve never made a secret of that.” Said the first man. “But she’s not really one of them, officially. She’s adopted right? By that one that married the wild elf?”

Tasha’s eyes widened slightly when she realized they were speaking of her daughter, Sheridian. One of these men had his eye on her! Suddenly she wished she was going to be in town longer, so that she might see how this all played out. As a rule, the guards were corrupt and real bastards, but Tasha could see that that wouldn’t necessarily be the case with all of them. If this man was a gem among stones, then if he was patient enough, he might just be able to win Sheridian over. Tasha hoped it happened, her daughter was going to need a man in her life eventually, especially with Tasha herself gone. As the men passed from her hearing distance she knew that meant they were far enough away for her to risk moving. She dashed across the street then, keeping low and vaulted over the low fence that circled the orphanage, one hand on its top as she went over.

Rather than going in the front door she circled around to the back, where a rear door led into the kitchen. She tested it and, as always, found it unlocked. Not because they were lax in security, but because the cook was absent minded. Tasha let herself in and navigated by memory through the kitchen, without need of a light source. From the kitchen she made her way through the dining hall with its ten tables and out into the main hall of the large building. To her left was the right was the front door, but to the left was the grand stairway that led to the upper levels. She dashed up it, her feet coming rapidly down on the stairs without making a sound on the thick carpet. She turned left on the second floor landing and dashed along the open air hall, doors on her right and the open air above the entrance hall on her left. At the far side, rising above the stairs on the first floor were those from the second floor to the third and she took those up as well. This was the floor where the staff resided, she herself had lived here for a number of years following Calistone’s death, before she had reclaimed the apartment above the bowyer. She knew all the rooms by heart and made her way down the hall, stopping outside the third door on the right and checking the knob. It was open, usually left so in case any of the young children needed access to an adult in the night. She pushed the door open and stepped through, then closed it lightly behind her. She crossed the room to the bed and gazed down fondly at the woman sleeping, the covers up to her waist, one arm up by her head the other across her stomach.

Sheridian Grasamere was not a beautiful woman in the classic sense of the word, but there was no denying she was a desirable creature. Of average height with long, thick, curly brown hair that fell to her waist she had pale skin, a smattering of freckles across her pert nose and full, soft lips that were quick to smile. Though not tall, she carried herself with the poise and grace of a much taller person and her lissome form was balanced in such a way that it made her seem taller from a distance. She was large of breast and flat of stomach, in good shape physically from a lifetime of working, first in her birth parents shop down by the docks and then with Tasha here in the orphanage. She had been eight when Tasha had adopted her, now she was nineteen and had the weight of a hundred children on her shoulders, but she bore it with the strength of a much older woman. Tasha wished she wouldn’t have to bear it alone, but it was what had to be.

“Sher.” She said softly and the young woman’s eyes snapped open, long practiced was she in listening for the night cries of the children, many of whom were plagued by nightmares. It took a moment for her vision to focus, and when she recognized her foster mother standing over her she smiled, then she realized what the older woman was wearing and she frowned, pushing herself up on her elbows.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” She demanded.

Tasha turned and perched on the side of the bed, reaching out to push a lock of the womans curly hair out of her face. “I have to go away for awhile.” Tasha said softly.

Sheridian cocked her head to the side, regarding the woman she had come to know so well over the last decade. “This has to do with the attack on the temple the other night, doesn’t it?”

Tasha sighed, but nodded. “It’s best if you don’t know too much, that way you won’t have to lie for me when they come to question you.”

Sheridian frowned. “Are they going to come to question me?”

“Once they realize I was involved in what’s about to happen, I suspect they will.” Tasha shook her head, then leaned in and wrapped her arms about the young woman in a tight hug. “They will tell you that I’ve done things Sher… things you won’t understand… or maybe you will… and it will be true, most likely all of it. They won’t have to concoct anything… but please understand that what’s coming is necessary for the greater good of us all.”

“Mom, you’re scaring me.” Sheridian said, hugging the elf back fiercely. “If what’s coming is so bad, why do you have to do it?”

Tasha felt tears blurring her vision and didn’t bother to hold them back. When she pushed herself to arms length from Sheridian, hands on the other woman’s shoulders, there were tears streaming down her face. “Because it’s been made very plain to me that no one else can.”

“Does Kally know?” Sheridian asked.

Tasha shook her head. “When I’m gone, Kally will be the only representative of the Tulaetin family left in Hanover… she’ll be in charge here. The less she knows about this the better, but she’ll be properly filled in by tomorrow I’m sure. In fact, you can count on her being one of the first to come here and question you. Go ahead and tell her about this… hopefully it will help her to understand things.”

“I don’t see how, I don’t understand any of it!” Sheridian said desperately.

“I know, and I’m sorry about that. But… I couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye. Not to you.” They hugged again and then a distant cry from the second floor drew both their attention. Tasha stood up and wiped the tears from her face. “Focus on them Sher, it will help you through the coming days. And try to open your heart to others… don’t let your own past jade you to relationships that might be a benefit. Always remember… love is worth it.”

“Worth what?” Sheridian asked as she stood up and slipped into a robe to go and see to the child that had awakened crying.

“Whatever it takes.” They hugged again and then they went down to the second floor together. Sheridian disappeared into one of the childrens rooms but Tasha continued down to the first floor and out into the night….

-5-

They met up in the alley behind the garrison, Drifter coming out of the deepest shadows in the alley and startling Tasha, who was already on edge. “Sorry.” He said softly.

She shook her head. “It’s my own nerves… I still haven’t convinced myself that this is all completely necessary.”

“It’s not too late to back out. This isn’t a decision anyone would blame you for turning away from.” Drifter told her.

She seriously considered that for a moment, then she squared her shoulders and shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I went through the rest of my life wondering what might have happened. Knowing I could have taken steps to help my parents and then didn’t.”

He nodded, as though he understood, and she realized he might. She knew nothing at all about him… nothing. “We go in the front door, you already have your bow ready and aim it straight at the sergeant. Be prepared for there to be more than just him in attendance in there, so you may have to cover more than one person.”

She nodded her understanding, “You’re still unarmed.” She reminded him.

He nodded, “I’ll take care of that as soon as we go through that front door.”

The plan, such as it was, firmly in place the pair moved around to the front of the building and paused just outside the front door. Drifter reached out and placed his hand on the doorknob and glanced at the elf. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves, then nodded at him. Drifter yanked the door open and she went in fast, bow up and an arrow notched to the string. The desk sergeant was a burly human in his mid-forties, thinning black hair swept into a comb over and a few days of stubble on his heavy cheeks. He looked up and when he saw her and her bow pointed straight at him he scowled, “What the Hell is going on here?”

She heard Drifter come in right behind her, and it was he who spoke. “Just keep still sergeant and there’s no need for you to have to get hurt.”

Drifter moved forward, circling around the counter and moving toward the soldier. He paused after few steps, looking perplexed as he regarded the man behind the counter. “He’s not armed.”

“Of course I’m not, we don’t wear weapons inside the building in case a prisoner got hold of them.” The sergeant said, as though that should be obvious.

“Where are the keys to the cellblocks?” Drifter asked the man.

The sergeant nodded toward a peg on the wall near the door that lead into Sneed’s office. Drifter started that way, but before he got within ten feet of the wall the office door exploded outward and Flynn came barreling out, slamming his shoulder into Drifter. The human was taken by surprise and fell over backward as Tasha gave a startled shout and turned her bow in that direction, instinctively releasing the arrow. Flynn was moving too fast and the arrow cut through the air behind him, then he altered his trajectory and came at the front desk, vaulting it easily and coming at Tasha with a vengeance. Behind him Sneed had appeared in his office door and was sizing up the situation and unlike the sergeant, he was armed with his sword, which was already in hand.

Tasha retreated a couple of steps, put her back against the wall as she swiftly drew another arrow and notched it to the bowstring. “Watch it!” she called to Drifter, who hadn’t yet seen Sneed, he was scrambling to his feet facing Flynn. Tasha raised her bow again as Rancyd landed lightly on the near side of the counter and as she started to aim down the shaft of the arrow he spun and lashed out with a booted foot, catching the bow on the left side and knocking it to the right as she released. The arrow shot forth like a missile and took the sergeant high in his throat, the man’s eyes widened and he sputtered as he toppled back, dead before he hit the ground.

Flynn’s foot came down lightly after the kick and he shuffled forward, lashing out with a lightning swift backhand that caught Tasha on her right temple. She cried out as she staggered to her left, her vision blurring with instant tears. He came on again, stepping up behind her and kicking her in the back of the knees. They buckled and she fell, crying out again as she landed on all fours, then she ducked her shoulder and rolled, desperate to put some distance between them, stretching out on her back and lifting her bow again from a prone position. Flynn was already there though and as the bow came up he kicked it away. Tasha grimaced as his foot hit her forearms and she saw the bow skid under a bench to which prisoners were secured when brought in. Then she was struggling for her life as Flynn’s weight landed atop her, his hands finding her throat and squeezing.

At her warning Drifter turned and saw Sneed at the same time that the Colonel saw him. The older human lunged at him, stabbing with the sword and Drifted twisted at the waist, his shoulders swerving away so the blade passed harmlessly just in front of his chest. The transient brought his arm up under Sneed’s wrist, knocking the blade high and Sneed was forced to the tips of his toes to compensate for the sudden movement or he would have lost his grip on the weapon. Drifter, still kneeling after having been bowled over by Drifter came to his feet swiftly, driving his shoulder into Sneed’s solar plexus. The colonel grunted and staggered back, colliding with the frame of his office door but Drifter came on hard, pushing his momentary advantage, driving a fist into the man’s stomach. Sneed grunt and bent slightly, but he was more solidly built than he appeared and a tight layer of muscle over his abdomen absorbed most of the impact.

Up came the colonel’s knee, driving into Drifters stomach with a jarring impact that sent the other man staggering several feet back into the entrance hall. He ran into a desk and wound up tripping backward, sprawling across the top of it. Sneed launched himself at the other human, his face twisted in rage, sword raised with the point down and driving at Drifters middle. Prone on his back across the desk, Drifter had nowhere to go but to the side and he rolled, hearing the point of the sword dig deep into the surface of the desk. He landed heavily on his hands and knees beside the desk and looked back over his shoulder as Sneed yanked the sword out of the wood and turned toward him. Drifter drove a foot clad in a worn and battered old shoe backward into Sneed’s groin and this time the colonel staggered, his face paling as his knees buckled and sent him to the ground. His sword fell from suddenly useless fingers as he clutched at his damaged manhood. Drifter scrambled to his feet, darting over to retrieve the man’s sword and then holding it on him as he moaned and rolled on the ground.

When Flynn had wrapped his hands around her throat Tasha had at first panicked, feeling her airway cut off and almost immediately her vision started to darken around the edges, the result of having exerted so much effort so quickly and now not being able to breathe. She struggled and thrashed, her arms flailing at him to no avail as her strength waned. He was straddling her thighs, keeping her legs pinned and she knew that her long legs were her strongest weapon which he had made useless at the moment.

Grinning malevolently Flynn leaned forward so his mouth was less than an inch from her ear, his lips actually brushing it, his breath warm on the side of her face. “Sneed said you might try something stupid like this! We both prayed you would, we’ve wanted to get you into one of our cells alone for a long time! Now you’ve gone and done the stupidest thing possible… and you're ours.” Tasha had no illusions about what would happen to her if she wound up spending any time as Sneed and Flynn’s prisoner. The only question would be which of them forced themselves upon her first. This knowledge cleared her mind to crystal clarity and she felt a new resolve fill her. She hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone in this jailbreak, but the sergeant was already dead by her arrow, so there was no turning back now.

Up came her right hand to the side of his head and he laughed, thinking she was trying to push him away as the palm of that hand came to rest on his temple. But then her thumb moved out to the side, the long, well manicured nail sinking to the first knuckled into his eye. Rancyd screamed and Tasha felt bile rise in her throat as the blood and other fluids from his eye gushed forward, soaking her thumb and the side of her hand. His grip loosened almost at once and he reached up reflexively to bat her hand away. As the limb was knocked to the side he screamed again, the eyeball being dragged clear of the socket with the thumb, a sickening popping and sucking sound emanating forth as the eye came free. He rolled off her, writhing and screaming, clutching at his face and shouting, “You bitch! You took my eye!”

Tasha rolled over and rose to her hands and knees, scampering across the floor to retrieve her bow from beneath the bench, then she vomited, unable any longer to hold it back. Shaky, she pushed herself to her knees and then up to her feet, glancing across the counter to where Drifter too was just standing up, Sneed’s blade in hand. He glanced over at her with raised eyebrows and she nodded, assuring him she was all right… if shaken up. She drew another arrow and notched it to the bowstring, then leveled it at Flynn, just in case. She doubted that there was any fight left in him for the time being.

Across the long counter from her, Drifter raised the sword he had taken from the colonel and examined it closely. “Very nice colonel,” he said with an approving nod, “dwarven craftsmanship.” It wasn’t a question, which drew a curious glance from Tasha. Drifter kept surprising her with his knowledge… who was he that he could so easily identify the craftsmanship of a weapon? “Mithril blade, excellent balance,” as he said this last part he twirled the blade experimentally and expertly in his hand, “should serve me nicely.”

“Fuck you.” Lon Sneed groaned from the ground at Drifter’s feet.

Drifter scowled down at him, “No general… there’s a Lady present!”

“Not anymore,” he groaned, which sounded odd when mixed with the chuckle he also let loose, “after this she’ll be a wanted murderer, stripped of all holdings and titles.”

At the word murderer Tasha flinched and Drifter glanced over at the fallen sergeant. “Yes, that was unfortunate.”

“Drifter, we don’t have time for this.” Tasha reminded him.

“Right you are!” The human said with an almost jaunty air that gave the archer the idea he might actually be enjoying himself! “I’ll be back with the assassin momentarily, but first….” He bent over and pulled the belt and scabbard from the waist of Lon Sneed, who gave him no struggle. A moment later he stood and fastened them around his own waist, then sheathed the sword, testing its weight on his hip. “Just like it was made to be there.”

“I’ll be getting that back soon.” Sneed assured him.

Drifter laughed, then turned and made his way to the peg where the keys still hung. After retrieving them he turned again and disappeared through the iron door that blocked the passageway into the cell blocks. Tasha was now alone with Sneed and Flynn, and while she was fairly certain Flynn was no further threat until he saw a healer, she couldn’t be so certain of Sneed. With that thought in mind she moved to the end of the counter and positioned herself there so that she could see both men. Flynn continued to moan and clutch at his face, blood and other fluids she didn’t want to consider were seeping through his fingers. She looked instead at Sneed, uncomfortable with what she had done to Flynn. As her gaze traveled from one man to the other it paused on the body of the sergeant she hadn’t meant to kill.

“What was his name?” she asked softly.

“Beauregard Samson, though we just called him Beau.” Sneed replied and she could hear genuine regret for the loss of the soldier in his voice. She might not have liked Sneed nor agreed with his actions most of the time, but she couldn’t deny he seemed to genuinely care for his men. “For what it’s worth Colonel… I’m sorry. His death was an accident.”

“If you’re so sorry, put down the bow and turn yourself over for crown justice.” He growled, and she noticed that he wasn’t groaning or clutching his ravaged manhood anymore. He was dangerous again.

She shook her head. “I can’t do that… there’s too much to do. That’s the whole reason for this you know… he’s the only one that can help me to rescue my mother. He might even have the knowledge to help me save my father.”

“He’s an evil killer for hire woman… why would he willingly help you?” Sneed demanded.

“I’ll convince him.” She said simply.

He laughed. “How? Sweet talk him?” He snorted and shook his head. “Maybe if you slept with him, most men would move the Heavens and all the pits of Hades for a tumble with you… but somehow I can’t see you whoring yourself to him. Have you seen him? All the pus and open sores?” Tasha couldn’t restrain the revolted shudder that passed through her.

“I can be very convincing when I need to be.” She said, and it was true. There were times growing up here in Hanover when she had been able to convince people just with the use of her voice and certain body language to think of things as she did. It wasn’t often, but had long thought that when she most needed to convince a person of something was when that… ability manifested itself. The most memorable time was when she and Kallysta had been children, teenagers really, and Kally had been caught stealing from a fishing boat at the docks. The captain had been about to flog her on the deck of his ship, but Tasha had strode onto the deck and demanded he stop. She hadn’t ever been more scared before in her young life at the time, but she had been shocked when he had relented and let her sister go. In fact, she suddenly realized that most of the times she had seemed to magically convince people of the error of their ways or to help her with something, she had been getting her sister out of trouble!

Sneed snorted in derision and shook his head. “You naïve twit! He’ll murder you and that… transient in your sleep at his first opportunity!” He looked her over slowly, disdainfully, “More likely he’ll kill your new boyfriend, then he’ll rape and murder you! That’s one of the things he’s wanted for you know? Rape?”

Tasha swallowed audibly, but didn’t say anything. She hadn’t actually known that, though she shouldn’t be surprised. A man who would kill others for money wouldn’t think twice about a crime like rape. All that meant was that she would have to be extra careful around him. Suddenly the sounds of combat broke out from beyond the door into the cell block. “Sounds like Drifter encountered your patrol.”

“They’ll deal with him, then they’ll come down here and we’ll all deal with you!” He glared coldly at her, “Repeatedly, if I have my way.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of their chances for success. I’ve seen what Drifter is capable of.” She told him, turning her head to look at the door. The sounds of combat were drifting down from above, likely on the third floor where Toxyn was supposed to be held. She was just hoping that Drifter was doing all right when she heard a quick movement from the other direction. Cursing herself for having taken her eyes off of Sneed, she snapped her head back around, raising her bow to fire, but she was too late. He was remarkably fast for a human in his late forties and by the time she was raising her bow he was already on her. He caught her bow wrist in one hand, the slender arm corded with ropy muscle making him whip quick and strong as an ox! She grunted in pain as he squeezed, and she thought she might have felt tendons pop in her wrist as the bow fell from suddenly numb fingers. Her other hand, still holding the arrow she hadn’t had time to fire, came up in a swift stab toward his face but he raised his other arm and parried that away, striking her incoming forearm hard enough to knock the arrow across the room. The same arm he had just parried with came in then, striking like lightning and he hit her hard across the face. She cried out as her head whipped around and she staggered to her right, her head spinning. If he hadn’t still been holding her right arm she would have fallen, but as it was she staggered into him and he closed his right arm around her, gripping her shoulder and spinning her so that her back was to him and then her right arm was twisted painfully up behind her. Tasha winced and tried to fight him, but he simply raised the arm and she cried out as she felt her elbow threaten to dislocate. She was forced up onto her tiptoes and he didn’t give her another chance to counter, shoving her forward hard and bending her over the countertop. She had to turn her head to keep her face from smacking into the top, and before she could even think, much less react he had grabbed her second arm and twisted it up behind her as well, holding them both pinned at the small of her back in his left hand.

He stepped up and used his left foot to kick hers out away from her right, spreading her legs wide and ensuring she wouldn’t be able to get any purchase to kick out at him. “Flynn! Toss me your manacles!” He called to his second in command, but the only response was a pained moan. “Shit!” He reached forward with his free hand and grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking back on it painfully, forcing her head up and her back to arch painfully, the constricting corset creaking as her breasts strained against it. She gasped in pain, wincing as he leaned forward, pressing against her from behind. “What the fuck did you do to him?” Sneed demanded.

“He’s lost an eye!” she gasped out.

Sneed paused at that, glanced over at where Flynn lay on the ground near the entrance. “Damn. That’s going to make him less valuable to me.” She felt his groin bump against her suggestively and the unmistakable feel of his penis swelling against her rounded buttocks. “I’ll have to take that value out of you I guess.” She felt his hand on her thigh then, through the soft stretch of her leggings. He slid it slowly up her side and around in back, moaning slightly as he squeezed one of her cheeks. “Gods I’ve wanted you for so long!”

“Get your hands off me bastard!” she growled at him.

His hand moved up from her ass to the side of her waist, then continued up as he leaned forward, sliding his hand up her ribcage then around to caress the side of her right breast. He wanted to cup his hand around it from the front, but couldn’t get to it with her bent over the countertop as she was. “Once my men upstairs have caught that Godless cretin you’re running with these days, I’ll have them strip him down and give him fifty lashes for what he’s done here.” Tasha suddenly remembered the scars lacing his back and thought about what another fifty would do to the man. “That is of course unless you want to negotiate for leniency.” He laughed, leaning back and slapping her ass playfully, then he rested his free hand on her hips and started grinding against her in a blatantly sexual fashion. “Gods above you are the most perfect woman I’ve ever seen!”

Just then the door to the cellblock burst open and Drifter and Toxyn rushed out. They came up short when they Sneed standing behind Tasha, grinding against the elf as she was bent over the counter. Sneed looked over, expecting to see his men, a big smile on his face that died as soon as he recognized who it was. “Damn!” he cried, then started to reach forward for Tasha’s hair, thinking to jerk her up in front of him as a shield. Toxyn was too fast for him, his hand whipping forward and flinging a knife he had acquired from somewhere, likely one of the guards up on the upper floors, at the colonel. Before he could drag Tasha upright the knife sunk into his shoulder on the right side and he grunted, staggering back as blood blossomed from the wound.

Freed of his firm grip, Tasha stood and straightened, her face a mask of anger as she brought up a fist and landed a hard blow to the side of his head. The blow spun him around and he staggered away, tripping over a desk and spilling on the ground. Toxyn leapt the desk and landed astride the colonel, making the man scream as he yanked the knife from his shoulder and then made ready to slit the soldiers throat with it. “No!” Tasha cried, and the assassin scowled over at her. “Don’t kill him! I don’t need another unnecessary death on my conscience right now.”

Toxyn looked as though he seriously considered killing the man anyway, then he shrugged and reversed the dagger, driving it instead into the other mans temple. Sneed slumped, knocked unconscious and Toxyn stood up. “Good to see you elf!” he said with a contemptuous smile. “I knew you’d come through for me!”

By that time Tasha had retrieved her bow and now she raised it, an arrow notched against the bowstring and aimed it at the rogues face. His expression faltered momentarily with uncertainty and as she spoke it grew hard and bitter. “Understand me assassin. I’ve nearly lost both my parents as a result of your actions… if I think for even a moment that you’re not trying to help me rectify that with all your miniscule heart… I will end you, are we clear?”

“As crystal.” He assured her.

“Get your gear from their lockers, then we have to go. I’m surprised none of the patrols have checked in as it is. We’re on borrowed time here!” Drifter tossed the keys to the assassin who caught them deftly then dashed over to the evidence locker room. He disappeared inside for a few minutes, leaving Tasha to glance repeatedly at the door. “Come on, come on!” He reappeared clad now in his cloak and belting around his waist a weapon belt sporting a short sword, a long sword and coil of rope.

“My dagger is missing.” He said absently.

“That was never your dagger.” She told him matter of factly and he glanced up at her, then nodded. “Where did you leave the horses?” She asked Drifter.

“A short ways off the road to the west of town. We need to get somewhere safe and quiet that no one else knows about so we can plan our next step.” He told her.

Tasha nodded. “I know a place, it’s not too far.” With that she turned and led the way from the garrison, leaving Sneed and Flynn behind her, she hoped forever, but knew better than to really think so.

The place she had in mind was about six miles down the coast, west of Hanover. A cave in the side of one of the many mountains that was spacious inside despite a rather small and narrow entrance, concealed behind a great deal of shrubbery. They concealed the horses a short way off and made their way into the cave, Tasha traveling back in time in her memory as she entered. This cave had a lot of history for her, and people who knew her well knew of it. She and Kally had discovered it as children and used to come here once in a while to camp out and talk. The first time she and Calistone had ever made love was in this cave… they had come in during a hunting trip, needing shelter from a sudden violent rainstorm. One thing had led to another and… well, they had left the cave as an official couple for the first time. Now she needed it to cover her escape from all of that.

Drifter quickly checked around the inside of the cave, wanting to ensure that no animals or mountain men had claimed it as a home since the last time she had been there. He pronounced it a fit hiding place, then told her very pointedly that he was going to go stand watch at the entrance. Tasha nodded her thanks to him for that, then motioned with her head for Toxyn to follow her deeper in. The rogue smiled smugly, but fell in behind her as she led him to the very back of the cave, some hundred and fifty feet in. When they had arrived, she turned and quite suddenly struck him a vicious blow across the face. Toxyn gasped, sprawling in the sand and looked up at her with wide, surprised eyes, his hand already moving toward his sword. Tasha had her bow up and a notched arrow ready to fire, her vibrant green eyes glacial, leaving no doubt in his mind that she would kill him in an instant if need be.

“That,” she said softly, her voice dripping acid, “was for my parents and their temple, all of which you have helped to destroy.” He said nothing and did nothing, lying there upon the sand, staring up at her. “Releasing this string would be for me, which you have also helped to destroy! Understand me assassin… because of you, I have nothing left but my life and would gladly sacrifice that for my parents. You mean nothing to me, but unfortunately I have no choice but to work with you for the time being since you are the only one with information as to where my mother is, what was taken from the Vault and how to cure my father. You also seem to have some knowledge of what really happened to my husband ten years ago… so you have fifteen minutes… talk. If I don’t like what you have to say, you’re dead and I’ll move on without your aid.”

Toxyn took a deep, steadying breath and slowly moved his hand from his weapon, then held it out to his side. “Our agreement was that I would tell you what I know in exchange for you getting me out of that jail. You’ve done that and I always had intended to hold up my end of the bargain. You don’t need the bow.”

She laughed derisively, “Forgive me if I don’t take the word of a hired killer!”

He considered those words for a moment, then he nodded, conceding the point. “All right, so ask me questions. I’ll answer them honestly.”

She continued to glare at him down the shaft of her arrow for a moment, then she slowly lowered it and backed away. She squatted down in a corner of the cave, her back to the rock wall and leaned the bow against it next to her. She looked down at the sand for a moment, getting her thoughts in order, then she spoke to him without looking up. “First things first, how did you people even know about the Dark Vault? It was the best guarded secret the temple of Gaea had.”

“Wasn’t that hard actually. We caught a templar of Gaea, some idiot kid named Dameon Nyte, he didn’t know much, but he had witnessed several men in expensive gear come to the temple over the years.” Toxyn began.

Tasha’s head had snapped up at the name DameonNyte and she cut across him now, “You captured Dameon? Why? How?”

“Know him do you?” Toxyn asked with an evil smirk, “Apparently he was assigned to snoop around the sect of Noktyrne and thought it a good idea to spy on the temple in Milligant. He was caught and questioned… kid turned out to be rather resilient, so he was tortured. Eventually we learned about the adventurers that would occasionally come to his home town. They’d stay a night, have a meeting with your parents, then leave. Some of those adventurers matched the descriptions we had of people who had acquired items of darkly evil origin over the years. Items that had always been suspected of going into that vault.” Tasha’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh yeah, the existence of the vault isn’t much of a secret. What those damn Gaea people were good at was keeping its location a secret. Hanover was the ideal place, off the beaten path, not a lot of strategic importance. A good location. Once we determined that there was a likelihood it was there, we needed to put someone on the inside… a spy.”

“No.” Tasha shook her head emphatically. “My parents staff at the temple are very loyal, and there hasn’t been any new additions there in the house for years!”

Toxyn nodded. “True enough, but about a year ago didn’t one of the young acolytes your father had been mentoring have a family emergency? Something he needed to travel home to deal with?”

Tasha thought back, then recognition dawned in her eyes. “Jev.”

He nodded. “Young Jev has been dead for a year, the man that returned was our spy, a shapeshifter named Scavenger. One of the best in the business actually.”

“Jev went home to attend to his sick mother, but she died while he was there. He came back to us devastated, a changed person because of her death.” She said softly.

He shook his head. “He never came back to you at all. That was Scavenger, who was able to use the death of Jev’s mother to cover up any actions that might not have been strictly in character for the young priest to be. The mothers death… well, that was my doing. I’ve always been pretty good with poisons.” He winked at her playfully and Tasha nearly took up her bow and killed him right then. Instead she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, which he immensely enjoyed watching, then she opened them again.

“All right, so the Jev imposter, this Scavenger, was able to discern that the Dark Vault was in my parents temple. How did you get past the protections? They were supposed to be impossible to break.” She said.

He shook his head. “One of the first things you learn in my line of work is that there is always a key to get into any place. No protections are impossible to circumvent, some are harder than others. Your fathers were actually pretty easy to figure, no offense.” Her eyes had narrowed dangerously at the veiled insult to her father. “The magical protections themselves were pretty strong actually, but the mean by which they could be lowered… well, your father or mother could pass through them unharmed. Therefore it was their blood that was the key, and your father was the easier target. So I stabbed him through the heart, took his blood and splashed it on those of us that went into the vault and we passed right through as though we were all him.”

Though she would never have said so to his face, Tasha had to admit that that was fairly brilliant, even if it had almost cost her father his life. Might still, if there was no cure for the poison. “And the poison in his system?” She asked, “Was that of your creation? The priest of Oceanus back in Hanover, Father Titus, says that it’s preventing him from healing father further.”

Toxyn nodded. “It’s one of mine, yes.”

“Is there a cure?” She asked him.

“Of course, but it’s not here. I’d have to make it in my laboratory back home in Milligant.” He informed her.

“And will you?” she asked him.

“Perhaps. That’s not part of the deal we made for my freedom. We’ll discuss that at more length later on.” He smiled wickedly and she shivered, though did well to hide it from him.

“All right then… tell me what was taken from the vault and why? What was the plan after the raid?” She demanded.

“That’s a more involved tale to tell, and I confess I don’t know all of it.” He took a breath, got his thoughts in order, then started to speak. “My origins lie in the human empire, what the wider world refers to as Errgaunt. I am a member of the Shayde Family, though my actual name is of little importance here.”

“I’m familiar with the Shayde family.” Tasha informed him. “My father is a high ranking priest in the temple of Gaea, one doesn’t reach that status without knowing the highest ranking members of rival churches, and none are a greater rival to Gaea than Noktyrne.”

The assassin nods, “So you are aware that the patriarch of our family is the High Priest of Noktyrne, Keiran Shayde.” He wasn’t looking for confirmation and he got none, “Keiran learned of the existence of a certain magical item, something that legend tells can allow its wielder to control vast hordes of undead, to command them to his or her bidding.”

“The Necrostone.” She said in an almost reverent whisper, a chill of trepidation running through her form.

Toxyn nodded. “He spent a great deal of time and gold in the research of that artifact, trying to learn all he could about it. All of it leading to who might have been the last one to control the stones power. Lord Shayde, through the hard work of yours truly, acquired a journal from a famous knight on a small island kingdom several weeks voyage from Errgaunt. His name was Donovan Moonstone, and this journal told of his mission to retrieve and destroy the Necrostone. He was the leader of an adventuring party called….”

She cut him off then, “The Dragons. Yes, I’ve met them. They came to Hanover about six years ago, a few years after the raid in which Calistone was taken from me.”

He nodded. “That’s when they brought the stone to your parents.”

Tasha’s eyes widened in surprise. “The Necrostone was in the vault?”

“Indeed. You see, Donovan and his people were hired to go after the great lich Melphizor, but another adventuring party beat them to it. They figured they were saved the trouble of having to deal with him, though they had to take a side trip to rescue a member of the party that did go after the lich. Lady Joanna Zoltan, who’s tale is not the issue here. Suffice to say the Dragons rescued the Lady and she went back with them to Algeron. A while later they got word that Melphizor had returned, and that he was claiming it was due to the power of the Necrostone. Again the Dragons went after Melphizor, this time with Lady Joanna in tow and took him down, taking possession of the stone.” Toxyn took a breath now, but Tasha, who had met Donovan, was enthralled by this tale of his exploits. “They had a mage with them, a man named Arkayne. He researched long and hard how to destroy the Necrostone, but could find no means of doing so. It was then determined that the stone was well nigh indestructible, and rather than destroying it they should find a means of securing it.”

“So they brought it to the temple of my parents, and it was secured in the Dark Vault.” Tasha surmised.