Rise of the Serpent (Serpent's War Book 2) (16 page)

Chapter 16

“You should come with us,” Namitus said as the
Lady Hornet
broke to the left and headed for the eastern edge of the harbor.

“So you can keep an eye on me?” Lariki smirked. “I’ll fight for you until this job is done and paid for, don’t worry.”

“How are you going to join them?” Allie asked. “They’ll be in the middle of the docks and we’re trying to avoid them.”

Lariki turned and judged the
Lady Hornet
’s speed as it shot into the harbor. She nodded and turned to glance over her shoulder. “Watch.”

“What—” Allie’s words stopped as she saw the half-dragon’s eyes flash in the morning sun.

Lariki pulled her vest apart, snapping the laces as though they were made of single threads. She shrugged it off her shoulders and stepped out of her boots. Her pants hit the deck a moment later. Naked save for the tattooed scales that covered her from neck to ankle, she stepped up on the seat along the edge and raised her hands over her head.

“Saints!” Namitus sputtered as she hit the water and disappeared beneath the surface. Several seconds passed before she broke through the surface again. Her arms hammered the surface, pulling her through almost as fast as the boats parted the water.

“Did you see her—”

“Corian!” Jillystria cut the elf off. She shook her head, silencing him.

Gor chuckled. “Ramesh told me she did that from time to time. Puts a special kind of fear in her foes.”

“I’ll say,” Namitus said. He shook his head. “My friend Patrina has armor that seems pointless. It looks almost normal among the revealing dresses of Miran nobility, save that it’s armor meant for fighting.”

“The queen?” Allie asked.

Namitus nodded. “It’s magical—draws blows she can’t slip or block to the armor and not the gaps.”

“But she’s got nothing at all!” Amra pointed out.

“She’s got scales,” the rogue said. “And trust me, they look like paint now, but when she needs them, they’re more than that.”

Gor nodded. “Heard that too.”

“Look sharp,” Harlon called. “And she’s still being charged for the full journey!”

Namitus smirked and rose up. He motioned for the others and stepped onto the bench he’d been sitting on. Amra squeezed his hand again and whispered, “Be careful.”

Namitus nodded and turned to look back at Harlon.

The captain nodded and called to his sons who manned the mainsail, “Drop the sail, lads! We’re hard to starboard.”

Namitus grunted as he jerked against the port rail. The others cried out as they were pushed into the side of the boat. It dug into the water, lifting the bow and port side before the stern rose and the boat rocked back to even. “Go!” the rogue cried and threw himself over the edge so he splashed feet first in the water.

Namitus splashed forward and had to climb back to his feet in the waist-high water. He turned and saw the others hitting the water and falling into it, the same as he had. Allie had the hardest time climbing back to her feet, thanks to the heavy leather and the stitched-on metal scales that covered it. She managed and waved him off.

She coughed out some of the water she’d swallowed and said, “I’m okay, let’s go.”

Namitus turned to leave when he heard another splash. He had to jerk back around. Corian was floundering and struggling to find his feet in the water. Gor landed a heavy hand on the elf’s chest and pulled him up by his leathers. Corian sputtered and rubbed the water out of his eyes.

“Can we go now?” Namitus asked.

The elf blushed. “Sorry. I don’t care for the water much.”

The rogue offered him a grin. “We could all use the bath, I think.”

“Let’s go,” Gor grunted. His eyes were set on the city before them. Whatever friendly or humorous behavior he’d shown on the boat was gone from his face.

Namitus nodded. He’d never seen the man look so grave. Then again, the last time he’d been to Shathas, he’d been half drunk and fumbling to rescue Allie and Jilly. Before that, he’d been banished after betraying everything he should have held dear.

The rogue waded through the water, fighting to keep from splashing or making too much noise. He might as well have beaten a drum along the way for all the noise the people behind him made. Namitus pushed harder, focusing on speed and praying the Vultures drew the bulk of the splisskins’ attention.

“There’s no way they’ll leave the gates open,” Allie growled as they walked.

“The fog of war,” Namitus said. “They won’t know what’s going on without messengers. It’s up to us to get there first.”

“Then what?”

“Then we hold the gate until our army arrives.”

She coughed out more water and fell silent.

The main group of mercenaries was hard at work, raising a cacophony as they destroyed what they could and fought the splisskin on the docks. A group of a half-dozen of the splisskin rushed along the shore, swords and spears raised. The first volley of spears was thrown and Namitus had to spin and lash out to keep from having the fight taken out of him before it started.

As it was, the water slowed his feet and made him stagger off balance. He regained control and splashed onto the thin sand splattered across the rock shelf that served as a beach. He had to block a cut from a splisskin sword and threw himself into the scaly man to keep a second one from having an opening. He pushed off the splisskin, moving him back a step, and cut into his thigh deep enough to topple him like a tree hewn with an axe.

The rest of his small raiding party cleared the water and set into the splisskin. Gor’s axe crushed the life from them whether they tried to block him or not. He led the charge, distracting the snake men with his brutality. Allie followed behind, striking the distracted splisskin and injuring or killing them. Namitus stayed to Gor’s right and kept the man’s other flank safe with his magical sword. By the time they’d dispatched the defenders, three of them had arrows sprouting from their scales, lending proof to Corian’s skill with his bow.

Gor hefted his axe to carry it in both hands and growled, “Come.”

Namitus looked to the others to make sure no one was injured and followed the large warrior as he jogged up the rocky beach and into the town. He veered to the left, heading along a road beside the steep walls of the hills that rose into mountains, and moved without tiring in spite of the weight of his long chain shirt and enormous axe.

The sound of battle to their right fell behind them as they moved inland. Namitus did his best to keep count in his head of the time but his thoughts were dashed when they ran into a fresh group of splisskin that was moving down the road towards them. The patrol hissed and charged at them, hurling javelins that flew over their heads as both groups closed.

Rather than laugh at the poor throws, Namitus saved his breath and began to zig and zag beside Gor. He aimed left of a splisskin and jumped back to the right at the last moment, spinning and slamming his back into a stunned splisskin that thought to come around and stab him from behind. Namitus bounced off the falling splisskin and left a deep gash from the cheek down the throat and chest of the splisskin he’d fooled.

He leapt away while that snake man reached for his spurting throat and staggered. He twisted around and swung his scimitar in an arc that cut the arm off another splisskin that thrust his sword into the space he’d just vacated.

The rogue continued to twist and lash out, using his mobility to keep him safe. He stung them time and again while Gor smashed the splisskin aside, one after another. Allie fought on the far side, aided with Corian’s deadly aim to keep the splisskin that sought to overwhelm her from succeeding.

“Everyone okay?” Namitus said between pants after the last of the splisskin fell with an arrow in the side of his head.

“Good armor,” Allie gasped. She rubbed the dented scales that had kept her safe from a splisskin sword. “Going to hurt tomorrow.”

“Let’s make sure of it,” Namitus said. He turned to Gor and opened his mouth, but the man turned and broke into a jog again. “Damn him,” he grunted before waving his arm and hurrying after the warrior.

Namitus strained to catch up to the warrior and continued to take several strides to catch his breath. He gasped, “If the snakes don’t kill us, this run will!”

Gor glanced at him and ran on.

“Damn it!” Namitus spat. “How much farther?”

Gor craned his neck to try to see ahead. “Not far.”

“We’ll be too damn winded to fight,” Namitus said.

Gor slowed and glanced back at the others. Corian was moving the easiest, but Allie was holding her side and struggling to keep up. He focused on Namitus again and slowed to a walk. “It’s just ahead. We head down that alley between buildings to stay hidden. We can get close doing that, then we’ll have to run across the open ground to the gate.”

Namitus turned and listened to the distant sounds of battle. “It’ll be guarded.”

“We will take them,” Gor said.

Namitus pressed his lips together and let his breath come through his nose until he had to breathe through his mouth again. “We don’t have a choice,” he admitted.

Gor nodded and continued on, turning enough to lead them down the alley he’d mentioned. Namitus watched the buildings as they moved between and behind them. Gor stopped them time and again when they saw or heard a splisskin, but every time, the reptilian men were rushing out of buildings and heading down the road towards the harbor.

“Amazing,” Corian whispered. “They’re blind to what’s under their noses!”

“You don’t see what you don’t expect,” Namitus said.

Corian nodded. “I can see—er, understand—that.”

Gor hissed them quiet and continued on, moving with a minimal amount of chain jingling for his size. They made it through more than a dozen buildings before Gor held up his hand to warn them. He and Namitus moved down between buildings that had once served purposes other than being barracks.

“A score of splisskin,” Namitus counted. He scowled. “And the gate’s been shut.”

Gor frowned and glanced up and down the wall that stretched from cliff wall to cliff wall. “No other way in, save the one in the side of the island.”

“We won’t be reaching that one,” Namitus said. He nodded. “All right, we need a rope and grapple or a ladder. We can climb the wall and take it from within.”

“While the snakes attack us from behind?” Gor asked.

Namitus frowned. “This isn’t going like we planned.”

“Does it ever?” Gor snarled. He curled his fingers into a fist and clenched it until his knuckles were white.

Namitus laid a hand on the distressed warrior’s shoulder. “We’ll find a way in,” he promised. He hesitated and then nodded. “I’ve got an idea, but I need some help.”

Gor nodded. “Do it.”

Namitus nodded and led the way back to join the others. “There’s a score of splisskin guarding the main gate…and the portcullis is down.”

Allie let out a strangled moan.

Namitus held up his hand. “We can do this, but it won’t be easy.”

“How?” Corian asked. “I can take care of a few of the splisskin with my bow, but twenty?”

“What if I split them up?” Namitus said.

“Split them up? How? If you lead them away, then you can’t help us fight them,” Allie said.

“Not to worry,” he said. “I can do it.”

“Then do it,” Gor snapped. “Lariki will show up and expect the gate to be secured.”

Namitus nodded and started digging through his pouches. “All right…I’m going to need an extra pair of pants…”

Chapter 17

Namitus ran around the corner, with Allie close behind him. He looked down the road at the squad of splisskin guarding the gate and waved his green-dyed arms in the air. He spun around and skidded to a halt before they could get a good look at him. His head was wrapped in the cloth of Lariki’s pant leg, collected by Corian before the elf leapt off the boat. The other pant leg Namitus had stuffed with Lariki’s vest and hooked around his waist so it resembled a tail. He’d used the same die he smeared on his skin on the clothing to complete the disguise.

Allie dug her heels in and slid to a stop as well. She cried out at seeing the defenders and, as soon as Namitus swung his sword at her, she turned and fled back around the corner. Namitus hissed loudly—and badly—and waved again with an arm before he gave chase.

The rogue turned the corner and risked a glance before the building blocked his view. Half the splisskin were rushing after them.

“It worked!” he called to her. “Quick, back to the others!”

Allie raced down between the buildings with Namitus close on her heels. He tugged the tail out of his smallclothes and let it fall to the ground. The headwrap followed, leaving him naked save for his loincloth.

They paused long enough for the splisskin to run past them on the other side of a house and then rushed on to meet up with the others. He took his clothes from Corian and tugged them back on as fast as possible while saying, “It worked!”

Namitus was still pulling his leathers over his head when Gor turned and rushed down the narrow walkway between buildings.

“Gor! Wait!” Allie hissed as loud as she dared. It was too late.

Namitus forced his head and arms through his shirt and leather armor before grabbing his scimitar from Allie. “Go!” he growled while tugging and twisting his clothes to get them fitting right. The dye on his arms and face he could worry about later—as long as nobody mistook him at first glance for one of the enemy.

They rushed out from the house and saw Gor sweeping the second splisskin guard to the side. He’d made good time, crossing the forty feet of open ground and managing to fell two of the snake men before they were able to surround him, but now even a man cursed to live to see his folly couldn’t hope to fight off so many foes.

Corian slid to a halt and loosed arrow after arrow into the crowd of splisskin. He aimed to the right side, trying to avoid a stray arrow streaking towards Gor, but still managed to have one of his shafts glance off the man’s axe as he swung it amid the throng of splisskin.

Namitus and Allie fell on the splisskin from behind, catching them unaware and easily knocking three out of the fight before the others shifted their tactics to deal with them. By then it was too late; only four remained and one of those was injured with an arrow in his lower back. Gor’s ferocity led the way as they cut the remaining guards down.

“Now what?” Allie asked between gulps for breath. She shook her left hand where a sword had struck the metal scales sewn into her sleeves.

“You all right?” Namitus asked her, noting the movement.

“Tingles, but just a bruise,” she responded. “I didn’t even think to consider getting a shield. Stupid of me.”

“You know how to use one?” the rogue asked.

She nodded. “I trained with one.”

“They’re coming back!” Corian cried, pointing to the east.

“Don’t just stand there waiting for a fly to land in your mouth—use your bow!” Namitus snapped.

Corian grunted and reached for his quiver. A few seconds later, he was firing a steady stream at the charging splisskin. One had fallen and two others were injured before they were close enough that Gor couldn’t restrain himself. He roared and charged, axe brandished to cleave the life from the first of the snake men he found.

“Saints, not again!” Namitus groaned. He shook off his fatigue and rushed after the warrior.

A secondary cry distracted Namitus as he fought beside Gor. He turned enough to see Lariki leading the charge of half a dozen of her mercenaries up the main road through town. He gawked at the naked mercenary, her scales glistening in the sunlight and somehow making her look even more majestic.

He paid for his distraction as a splisskin sword slipped through the loosened laces on the side of his leather tunic. Namitus yelped and twisted away, but the tip had sunk in deep enough to feel as though he’d been branded by a red-hot iron in the side.

The rogue twisted around in a circle and lashed out with his scimitar, lopping the splisskin’s head off with the magically keen edge. He parried another blow and used his left arm to put pressure on the wound.

Corian’s bow came to his aid and left the splisskin stunned from an arrow that struck his shoulder and buried itself to the snake man’s shoulder blade. A second arrow flashed past Namitus a moment later and hit the splisskin in the chest. The scaled warrior fell to his knees and reached for the arrow, but not before he collapsed to his side and gasped out his final breaths.

“The gate’s closed!” Lariki growled. “You were to keep it open!”

Namitus thrust his scimitar into the belly of another splisskin. That curved blade wasn’t meant for the sort of attack but it worked to his favor, cutting a shallow groove in the defender’s scales and forcing him to leap back. Allie was waiting and drove her talwar into the splisskin’s back, piercing lung and heart before her curved blade poked free of the splisskin’s chest.

Namitus staggered back a few steps and surveyed the scene. Nothing but dead splisskin surrounded them. Gor was bleeding from cuts on his face and hands, but he looked unharmed besides that. Allie was winded and limping from where another strike had dented the scales on her thigh. He shook his head and turned back to the gate.

“It was closed when we got here,” Namitus said between breaths. “How do the Vultures fare?”

“Better than you, by the looks of it,” Lariki said. She squinted as she studied him. “Are you green?”

“Don’t ask,” he muttered. Namitus turned to the gate. “Ropes and a hook, or ladders, if you think you can make them.”

“No time,” Lariki said. “Eight of my men are holding the splisskin down the road. They’re outnumbered, but I had to keep my word to meet you here.”

“You should help them,” Allie said.

Lariki shrugged. “If they die, it’s more money for the rest of us.”

Allie gasped.

Namitus shook his head and studied the twenty-foot wall. The only saving grace was the lack of towers where archers or spearmen could rain death down on them. “I’ve scaled a city wall or two in my time, but this one looks too smooth.”

“You’d best figure something out,” Lariki snapped.

Namitus looked at her and dropped his eyes to take in the supple scales that rippled across her skin. They looked smooth and subtle enough, but there was enough of a sheen that he was certain they were more than just a tattoo. It brought back the memory of her leaping and catching the wereeagle in midflight. He gasped.

“I’ll charge extra for the way you’re looking at me,” Lariki growled.

“No, that’s not it!” Namitus sputtered. Her scales did a fine job of accentuating her figure and her curves yet they hid the most scandalous bits from view. He turned and pointed at the top of the wall above the gate. “I’ve seen you jump. Can you reach it?”

Lariki followed his finger and frowned. “Not quite.”

“Gor, give her a boost!” Namitus said.

The large warrior frowned. “A boost?”

Namitus held his hands together in front of his belly, fingers interlaced.

“Oh,” Gor said. He shrugged. “Okay.”

Namitus turned to Allie and saw her staring at his side. Her lips were parted. He glanced down and noticed the growing red stain on his hip. His side felt warm but numb at the same time. He snapped his fingers to get her attention. “Later,” he said. “Turn around so I can get in my pack.”

Allie spun, giving him access to his backpack that she’d taken when he put his disguise on earlier. He tugged out a rope and handed it to Lariki.

“What am I to do with this?” she asked.

“I thought it might help you accessorize your, um, outfit,” he said while waving at her dragon scale covered nudity. Before she could respond beyond raising an eyebrow, he explained the real reason he’d given it to her. “You want to drop into the courtyard by yourself and lift the portcullis?”

Lariki nodded and looped the coil around her neck and shoulder. “Get ready. This won’t be easy on you.”

Gor snorted and moved to the gate. Several splisskin backed away, but only a few of them held weapons. Gor snarled, forcing them to take a few more steps back before they recovered and hissed back. Gor looked up at the wall and turned to put his back to the portcullis.

“Corian!” Namitus snapped. “Keep them from trying to poke him through the bars.”

Corian moved over and drew back his bow. His eyes narrowed as he selected a target and fired an arrow out of his second quiver that he’d picked up in Easton. The splisskin hissed and scrambled to take cover, pushing back the handful of scaled warriors that were trying to work their way forward with their javelins.

The dragonwarrior backed up several steps and used her hand to motion Gor forward. She flipped her hand around, palm out, to hold him steady and then stretched her neck and lowered herself. She nodded once and sprang forward, bursting into movement so fast that Namitus took a half step back in surprise.

Lariki covered the distance in four strides of her long and powerful legs. She cleared the ground and planted her left foot in Gor’s palms and kept walking up him, landing her right foot on his chain-covered shoulders. Gor grunted and tried to lift her up, but she sprung off him and sailed into the air. The warrior crumpled, driven off balance and onto his back by the strength of her leaps.

Lariki hit the smooth top edge of the wall with her legs. She tipped forward, leaning over and starting to tumble before she whipped an arm back and slapped against the side of the stone facing the harbor. She teetered for a moment until she regained her balance and straddled the foot and a half wide top of the wall.

“Keep her safe,” Namitus snapped.

Corian grunted and loosed his fifth arrow into the courtyard, towards the scrambling splisskin. Now he was targeting the snake men with spears instead of the unarmed ones.

Lariki grunted as a spear struck her back at an angle. It forced her chest down to the wall even though her scales deflected the javelin high into the air. She whipped her head around to spot the splisskin that had thrown it and let loose another of her terrifying roars.

The splisskin froze in place. They stared up at Lariki, lipless mouths parted and tongues flicking the air in confusion. Larikia took the pause to slip the rope off and hold tight to one end of it. She tossed the coil over the edge so it landed on Gor as he tried to sit up and then she leapt into the courtyard of the castle.

Lariki landed on the other side of the portcullis. The splisskin behind her wavered until one of them hissed something in their language and stepped forward. He made the mistake of throwing a javelin at her before she turned her back on him. Lariki’s hand shot out, her skin covered with the same shimmering red and brown scales that covered the rest of her body.

The spear was knocked aside and smashed into the wall of the gate. Lariki snarled again and turned to the portcullis. She thrust the end of the rope through so Namitus could grab it and then turned back to the rushing horde of splisskin. Lariki crouched and held her arms out. The scales shimmered on her skin, thickening and covering her entire body from toe to forehead. She snarled and leapt into the rushing horde.

“Captain!” one of the Vultures shouted.

Namitus finished knotting the rope on the bars of the gate and spun around. “You want to help her? Get up that rope!”

The mercenaries stared at the rope dangling over the gate. They glanced at one another and then through the bars of the portcullis at the battle raging inside. Gor scowled and grabbed the rope so he could pull it to the side of the gate. He pulled it tight and set a foot against the wall. One foot followed the next and soon he was scaling the side of the castle wall.

Namitus nodded and turned to Allie. “Stay here until we get the gate up.”

“What? They’ll need help!”

“I know,” he said and grabbed the rope as Gor swung himself over the top.

“Namitus! You’re bleeding!”

“Maybe later,” he said, confusing her. He started climbing up the side of the wall and made it look like he was out for an evening stroll. “I don’t have time to bleed right now.”

Namitus straddled the wall next to Gor and glanced at the man.

“Don’t fancy breaking a leg dropping down there,” Gor mumbled. “Tell them to hold the rope.”

“The wall’s slanted,” Namitus said. “They’ve yet to build a wall that doesn’t have an angle to it. Friend of mine’s a dwarf; he once told me they have to be thicker at the base to support the weight of the top. That and it keeps a strong wind from blowing it over.”

Gor blinked. “What’s your point?”

“My point,” Namitus said as he positioned himself with both legs facing the courtyard, “is that we can slide down—just make sure you roll when you land.”