The Company: The Swordplayer (22)

The story so far.

My sword hit the outlaw sorcerer in the side.

And bounced off, as though I’d hit a pillar made of solid steel. The shock numbed my hands and rang up my arms.

The sorcerer turned toward me. He was Rojannin. I stared. There were hedgewitches and hearthside conjurers aplenty in Rojan, scuttlers in the darkness who took care not to come to royal attention.

But this man…I backed away. My companions had vanished into the melee. I made a basic warding gesture, but knew instinctively that it would do no good.

I was right.

The Fey Child (57)

The story so far.

I spent most of the next day’s reference shift staring at my computer screen and trying to formulate a plan. Fortunately, the library was quiet and not too many people had questions.

I had to locate the prince before this woman did. If the fey I’d consulted had the right of it, he didn’t want to go back to that country, and the idea that the woman might force him in order to get what she wanted didn’t sit right with me.

The finding spell hadn’t worked. There might be some other options in Grzimek’s, but it was checked out and there were no other copies in the system. WorldCat put the next closest one at a university in another state.

By now, the kid was probably in another state, too.

Ten Kingdoms: The Green Castle (112)

The story so far.

“Let me get this straight,” Spoole says at last. “Mountainfoot is active.”

“It is,” Mykel says. “It’s how we’re talking to you.”

“But you say it injured Sy.”

“It did. He…we think he tried to activate it. It decided he was unauthorized.”

“Then who did manage to activate it?”

“Well, it turns out that the idea to include someone with documented simin ancestry on the team was the right call.”

“You don’t say? Is she there?”

“Right here,” Scoti says, and wonders whether she should add sir. Mykel didn’t, but Mykel leads their team.

“Congratulations, Scoti. We’ll want a full report, of course. Meanwhile, we’ll prep a team to get you out of there.”

Sundown, part 109

The story so far.

It’s a long-ass walk, made longer by the detour to the van which, when they reach it, they find stripped and undriveable.

“Shit,” Jason says, when they catch sight of the broken windows, the crumpled hood, the doors hanging open.

“Are you really surprised?” Cassandra asks. “Just because we haven’t seen them doesn’t mean they aren’t here. And now they have a flamethrower.”

She should’ve stripped the van herself, or had Drew and his friends help. She imagines Half-Blind Jack shaking his head at her.

“Guess we’re walking,” Jason says. There’s no resentment in his voice. Just a simple statement of fact.

Cassandra feels absurdly grateful, and then feels stupid for feeling that way.

“Guess so,” she says.

Help Wanted (13)

The story so far.

She looks at them, wrinkles her nose, but apparently decides it’s sufficient. “This way.” She leads you off into the night.

It takes disturbingly little time before you find yourself in a part of the city you don’t recognize. She floats ahead of you like a shadow on a river; it’s so dark here that it’s hard to keep her in sight.

And you keep hearing things. Little scuttlings, off in the dark. But you don’t dare look, because if you lose her, you’ll have your purse stolen and your throat slit before you ever find your way out of this warren she’s led you into.

About the time it occurs to you that this might have been her plan all along, she stops in front of a low, dark archway in a stone wall. The smell coming out of it is rank.

“Here,” she says.

The Company: The Swordplayer (21)

The story so far.

In the middle of it all stood two sorcerers–ours, and theirs.

Two sorcerers.

Two.

Bloody hells.

Ours stood with his arms spread wide, sweat gleaming on his bald head, his eyes closed. He seemed utterly unaware of what was going on around him. There was no sign of his fellow ‘Ke.

The other stood over Ivan, who had fallen to the ground. His sword lay in the dirt, a few paces away.

Good, I thought. It wasn’t Ivan’s fault I was here, not directly. But still.

But still…

“Oh, fuck,” I said, and ran to his aid.

The Fey Child (56)

The story so far.

It made far too much sense for my peace of mind. Who knew what kinds of dealings she had with fairies, but that didn’t matter. She probably hoped to get a reward for locating the prince.

I knew that she still had the Grzimek checked out. Too bad; I could use a copy myself right about now.

I really wanted to put a watch-ward on her house. Something, that would tweak me to what she was up to when I couldn’t stay there and watch it myself. As it was, I risked discovery with every moment that passed.

But I’d concluded that she wasn’t a dabbler after all, and that meant that she’d likely notice anything I tried.

Feeling vaguely defeated, I went home to bed.

Ten Kingdoms: The Green Castle (111)

The story so far.

“Mykel,” a new voice says at last. “This is Spoole.”

Mission controller. Of course. He sounds a little tense, possibly from not having heard from his team in days.

“Good to hear your voice, Spoole,” Mykel says. He actually sounds as though he means it, in that jocularly reserved way that Scoti has never been able to get the hang of.

“Good to hear yours, Mykel. What’s this about a medical extraction?“

“It’s Sy,” Mykel says, abruptly sounding very serious. “He’s badly hurt. Our medpak’s keeping him stable but he really needs full medical attention.”

“We’re on it. How did it happen?“

Mykel glances at Scoti before replying.

“Mountainfoot,” he says.

Sundown, part 108

The story so far.

The science labs are a bust. Everything’s just been abandoned, left to gather dust. Not even the bloodsuckers have holed up here.

That means the medical school.

“It’s a long walk,” Cassandra cautions. “There’s no guarantee we’ll be back by nightfall.”

Jason sets his jaw. “I still want to go with you.”

Cassandra pauses, surrounded by Harvard’s brick and ivy. So much wisdom and knowledge and it didn’t save them. “Why?”

Jason shrugs. “Well, what’s the alternative? If I stay with Drew and them, I’m just doing what I did back home. Waiting to die. Least this way I’m doing something.”

Cassandra regards him for awhile, long enough for Jason to start looking nervous.

“All right,” she says.

Help Wanted (12)

The story so far.

You pay the bill and then you’re both out in the Street. She looks up at you and holds a hand out, palm up.

You laugh and shake your head. “Not until you’ve shown me the way.”

She crosses her arms and looks at you consideringly. Now’s the time for her to run, if she’s going to, and get nothing more than a free dinner out of the deal. Though, judging by how skinny she is, she might count that as more than fair.

“Half,” she says. “Or no deal.”

You laugh again, more pleased this time. “A negotiator. All right. Here.” The coins aren’t worth that much, but she’ll have trouble spending anything bigger.