Valdemar, its peoples and cities belong to Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon (they do come as a pair you know). Not me. Original characters and plot are my own.

Ch. 10 Run Away! Run Away!

:Hey Boss? You awake?:

:Um yeah: I pinched the bridge of my nose and shook myself awake. Bad, very bad, falling asleep like that. All that missed sleep last night must be catching up to me, something that could kill me in this neighborhood. :How long has it been?:

:You sure you want me to tell you? I might interrupt your beauty sleep:

:Roxy, I'm warning you:

:Goodness knows you need it:

I sighed, :Cut the chatter and tell me how long it's been:

She sniggered, :'bout an hour Sleeping Beauty:

:Great, now I have a flying-reptile-who-talks-in-my-head sniggering in my head. My life is worthless, the shame, the shame. Cruel World, just let me die in peace:

:Boss! You're getting melodramatic again!:

:What do you mean, getting?:

:Shut up, Boss:

:Heh:

It wasn't much longer after our little exchange that Herald Target left the tavern. It was fairly dark, but I've always had good night sight. While I couldn't see his face or other fine details, I could see his silhouette and body language. I watched him carefully to see if he actually drank the foul brew that gets sold in those types of icky-gross taverns, and if he did whether or not I needed to save him from alcohol poisoning. Occasionally a bad barrel gets sold in places like this and the poor bastards who drink it go blind or worse. Although I could only observe him from a distance Herald Target's movements were smooth and sure, he seemed alert and wasn't staggering down the street. He either had a cast-iron stomach or the floor got the majority of the drink, I suspected the later. No one's stomach was that tough.

Roxy took off after him, keeping level with the rooftops. I shadowed him, keeping to streets running parallel to his path. It was hard enough staying even with the guy on the twisted byways of Haven's most disreputable section with Roxy's help, without her I would have either had to risk alerting him to my presence, or lose Herald Target altogether.

:Boss, right on Waterstreet:

The worst part was trying to keep an eye out for Herald Target's assassins. I'm sure there would be more then one after I made the mistake of telling The Client about the Companion. I just didn't know who it was going to be. Based on the Herald's past performances The Client wouldn't just send a couple of two-bit thugs, the Herald would eat them alive. No man, however good, can stand against ten or twenty times as many opponents all at once. I wondered if Roxy, Herald Target, and me were up to holding off ten to twenty people while waiting for the cavalry to arrive. Heh.

:Left on Willow, Herald Target is on Fishhawk:

:Thanks Roxy: The area was just about what you would expect for Exile's Gate, that is there were few street lanterns and most of the lighting came from the candles in the street walker's windows and the bright full moon. I watched the girls primp and preen for the passing men, this time of night when all the workingmen were going home the ladies of the night might be able to attract a few to make their rent. I pitied and envied them. I didn't need to sell my body to earn a living, but my soul was already damned long before I started killing people for money. The gods probably look more kindly on a prostitute then a kin-slayer and assassin.

:Roxy? Is it just me, or is he not going back to The Companion's Bell?:

:Or the palace. Yeah, I was wondering when you were going to notice that:

:Hmm, he might have a mission tonight. I wonder if someone hired him in his tough-experiencing-hard-times persona or something:

:Awfully convenient if he was:

:Yeah: I felt a tingle of alarm trickle down the back of my neck. :Roxy? Do me a favor and do a circuit for ambushes. I'll keep even with Herald Target and try to get on the same street without him spotting me. I want to be right next to him when the bad guys arrive:

:Will do Boss:

I saw her pass across the moon as I kept scanning for problems. I still didn't see anything out of the ordinary and that worried me. The whores were still plying their trade and the few children on the street looked like they were running errands. Even the drunks were fairly peaceful. I couldn't help feeling that something was out of place. Hellfires, something had been out of kilter the entire time I've had this job.

:Hey Boss! Looks like Herald Target's met up with someone:

:Shit. Thanks Roxy. Keep me updated: I started looking for a way onto his street. In all the twisting and turning I've done following him on this mission I'd gotten separated by more then one block from him. I ducked down the nearest alley, only to find it was a dead end.

:Boss! There's two guys coming up behind him! Hurry!:

:Stay where you are!:

I backtracked two blocks and found another alley. This one dead-ended in a fence with a locked gate. Taking a running leap to scramble over a fence isn't as nearly fun as they want you to believe, but I did it. I felt the old wood of the gate splinter and tear the palms of my hands but I didn't stop. I hit the ground, rolled to my feet, and dashed up another little side street.

:Better hurry! Those two guys are coming up fast! Target doesn't seem to know about them. He's busy talking with the other guy:

I found another twisty little alley, this one heading toward the street Herald Target was on. I slowed down and checked it out before I headed down it. Out on the main street I could see Herald Target talking to a cloaked man, but I didn't spend any time studying them. There were plenty of shadows in the alley and I knew that it would be a good place to set up an ambush. Hopefully whoever it was wasn't expecting me. I stared hard at the dark corners and sure enough there he was. The assassin was watching the main street, probably waiting for a signal from his compatriots. I knew I had only seconds left before they attacked. The Target needed to be warned.

Simultaneously the assassin stepped out of his hiding spot and I felt a blast of rage from Roxy. Flinging a :NO!: at her I raced toward the assassin, dagger already in hand. He heard me and started to turn but it was already too late. I slammed the dagger into his back and felt it slice between his vertebrae. He wasn't dead, but unless he got to a Healer fast he would be crippled for life. I yanked the dagger free and stepped out into the street, just in time to see Roxy dive at one of the attackers.

The Target spun, his sword already unsheathed. Roxy's victim was already down and likely wouldn't be rejoining fight. The man the Herald had been talking too stepped backward and pulled out a long knife. I had just enough time to shout a warning at the Herald before the rest of the gang showed up. About a dozen men appeared out of the shadows and alleys, weapons drawn.

I dashed out of the side alley and in less then a dozen paces I reached the cloak-wearing-man and positioned myself between him and Herald Target, hunting knife in hand. The hood of his cloak was down and his face was fully exposed to the bright moonlight. It was The Client.

"Bastard!" the word exploded out of me. I sensed Roxy's surprise.

"You, or maybe I should say your 'friend' is in deep trouble, assassin," The Client sneered. "Finish your contract and I might let you live."

"Not after what you did, Corpse."

I backed up a couple of steps and risked a quick glance around. The Herald had apparently accepted my presence and was back to back with me, facing half the gang. The rest were gathering around The Client, weapons drawn and waiting for his signal. Roxy was circling low overhead, ready to dive again. I Sent her a quick command to say there, no matter how poisonous there wasn't much one little flying lizard could do against this number. Unfortunately I knew the chances of her listening to me were slim.

The Client smiled, hefted his knife and backed up until his thugs were between him and me. "Finish them."

I swallowed against a dry mouth as the gang moved in. "Hey, Herald? You gonna call your Companion anytime soon?"

The only reply I got was a grunt.

:Boss, I think that's a Yes:

I didn't have time to tell her to shut up because the thugs had arrived. The first one went down under my knife and I tossed throwing dagger into another one's throat. After that they were a little more careful. I was never very good in a one to one fight, preferring the element of surprise to do most of my dirty work, and five to one odds didn't make it any better.

I ducked under the next blade and sunk my hunting knife into the attacker's arm but couldn't avoid the sword blow that smashed me down to the ground. I was lucky the thug only hit me with the flat of his blade and not the edge, otherwise I would have been split in two. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a sword whip out and remove the thug's head.

Despite my blurring vision I scrambled to my feet just in time to dive again as another attacker tried to knife me. Said attacker tripped and if I had been alert I could have knifed him on his way down, but my head was still ringing from the sword blow. This is called not being in top form. I managed to kick him in the balls hard enough that he wouldn't be doing anything for a while, and whirled to see that the Herald was fighting off three of the thugs at the same time. A flicker of movement to the left alerted me and I found that two other guys were moving in towards me. I fought the first two off, but knew it was only a matter of time before they wore me down.

I saw another flicker of movement out of the corner of my eye and barely had enough time send a cry for help. I saw, or perhaps felt, Roxy stoop at him with the speed of a falcon and suddenly I felt a blaze of pain under my right arm ~wing?~

I must have cried out because the Herald whirled again and cut at one of my attackers but I didn't see the blow. Everything was red with anger. Red with the pain that blazed from the wound that was not mine. I was a mindless whirlwind of rage and pain and death, all thought and fear and compassion evaporated like snowflakes in the firestorm of Hell.

When it stopped I found myself standing in the middle of a group of corpses, with no idea if the Herald or I made them. That didn't matter.

All I could see was Roxy

~Elric~

lying on the cobbles. Blood

~in the mud, blood and worse~

pouring from her side where the thug had cut her.

~from his belly where Garth had gutted him alive~

I saw her golden eyes, now glazed with pain

~heard his whimpering, he was in too much agony to cry~

and reached for a handkerchief

~for the knife they gave me~

to stop the bleeding.

~to end my brother's pain~

I heard a non-human scream of rage and looked up to see two Companions charging toward us, while the rest of the gang fled. One had a male Herald, the other was riderless. Both wore saddles. Herald Target said something to me but for some reason I couldn't understand the words, their order and accent were all wrong. He cursed in some foreign language, and threw me onto the riderless Companion's back, which I now recognized as the warrior- stallion I had seen earlier at the Bell's paddock. Before I could protest at being separated from Roxy he handed her up after tying the handkerchief as tight as he could around her wounded side, then mounted up behind me. Suddenly we lurched forward into a gallop and I would have fallen and dropped Roxy if the Herald hadn't grabbed my belt.

"Alberich, what happened?" shouted the other Herald over the peculiar ringing sound of the Companion's hooves.

"Not the time is, now. We must to the Healers go."

We raced on into the night.

******

A/N Boy, fight scenes are hard to write! If anyone knows a webpage or book that has 'how to write fight scenes' I would be deeply grateful. He he he, my grammar check program *hates* Alberich. Poor thing ~pats computer~ its only going to get worse for it, poor dear. Chapter title comes from Monty Python. Steven Brust also used it as a chapter title in Dragon.

Campion. Yes, I guess I really am pure evil. Nothing but evilness inside of me. I could better Sauron or any other Dark Lord (or Lady) you could name in Evilness. Get used to it. I follow the Lackey formula for success, get the reader to really like and closely identify with the main character, then drop a mountain on that character. If you can't be Evil to your characters and readers, then who can you be Evil to? (well, I guess there's my family and friends, but they are immune to me by now)