Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: [MI] Alfvaen[Gaps]: Initiates And Decoys Message-ID: <1992Oct16.025233.16733@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca> From: aaron@space.ualberta.ca (Aaron Humphrey) Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1992 02:52:33 GMT Batobo led the way through the Gaps, followed by Alfvaen, Delmara, Little Rat, and Queriche. The imp was following a trail of scent that, they hoped, would lead them to Elstree. All of them were wary as they walked through the dark passages lit only by the torch Queriche carried. They could hear numerous rustlings down side passages, and sometimes large shadows of tiny creatures leapt out at them as they rounded corners. "We shouldn't run into anything big," Alfvaen whispered. "If they want to keep this route open at all, then they can't trap it without injuring themselves." "Maybe they don't intend to use it again," Queriche said, in a normal voice, that echoed through the passage. "And they could always set up their own ambush. But they may not even know that we're coming this way." "Well, they do now," Alfvean hissed, annoyed. "Quieter, please." Just then, they heard a slap and splash of water, and he yelped, whirling to face the sound. "What the hell was that?" "T-croc," Little Rat said. "Big ugly scaly things, Mr. Elfman. But it's swimmin' away." "Wonderful," Alfvaen said under his breath. They continued onward, expecting danger from every shadow and behind every corner. But nothing menaced them, apart from a feral cat that hissed in their faces as they startled it from its lair. Then they arrived at a blank wall. Batobo sniffed up and down it. "The path continues through here, master. I swear it does." "A secret door, then," Alfvaen muttered. He felt carefully along the wall, until he found a crack. He followed it around with his fingers, and then stepped back, satisfied. Now he could see the outline of the door, although the others still couldn't. This could take hours, searching for this thing, he thought. Elstree might not have that much time. Luckily, he had a shortcut. He did know some magic, after all. Milteanas' teaching hadn't been totally in vain, and one or two spells came in very handy in his line of work... He started speaking in a soft voice, which gradually seemed to get louder in the quite of the Gaps. Then he stopped and rapped once on the wall. The door clicked and opened silently for them. Batobo instantly leapt through to pick up the trail once more. "After you," Alfvaen said sardonically. They followed the path for a while more. Then Alfvaen stopped them. "Quiet." He listened. "I hear voices, from ahead. Batobo, can you go forward unseen, along the trail? Find the owners of those voices, and then return unseen to me and tell of what you have seen. Go." "Yes, master," the imp said, flying up to the ceiling of the tunnel, where it disappeared in darkness. The others waited impatiently. *** Noctu sat in his Shrine. All was in readiness for the sacrifice, except for a few visitors who had not yet arrived. He sensed the nervousness of his two guards. Natural enough, even if they didn't know that he planned for them to die. Then he felt something trip his wards. He inspected the trace curiously. Not a human or elven trace. Something darker. Something extraplanar. So the girl's allies had more help than he had suspected. Still easily dealt with. He ran a caressing hand down the side of Elstree's face, which remained impassive. "Soon, my dear," he said. He waited for the flies to walk into his trap. *** Batobo returned after a few minutes. "The voices are from two humans, one male and one female." "Do they wear the symbol of the Demon Spiders?" Batobo nodded. "Lead us as close as you can to them without them seeing us." Batobo set off once more down the corridor, the rest of the party following quietly. Or as quietly as they could. Delmara was not used to sneaking around in dark tunnels. Especially dark tunnels that have not been maintained for some while. She stepped on a loose brick, which slid away beneath her feet, causing her to wrench her ankle. The brick made far more noise in being dislodged than any of them wanted to. They've heard us now for sure, Alfvaen thought. Time for a diversion. He bent down and whispered in Little Rat's ear. *** Sangudo stood nervously in front of the entrance to the Shrine. Noctu was one damned scary guy to work for, he thought. When he'd first talked to Shatoc, he'd heard the stories, but not believed them. So he'd joined up with the Spiders. Now he was guarding the Shrine, and sweating. They'd said he'd have to be initiated soon in the ways of the Demon Queen. He turned to look at his watch partner. At least there was one thing to make this shift bearable. Clivia was a damn fine-looking woman, even dressed in shapeless black like she was. One day he'd have to see what she looked like wearing nothing at all... "Hey, asshole," she said. "Keep your mind on the job." He averted his eyes hastily. Clivia had joined as recently as he, but she had a lot more experience than he did. She'd been in Stiletto before joining here, and she toyed absently with the weapon that was the symbol of her trade. He saw a slight movement on the ceiling. "What was that?" he whispered. "What?" "I saw something, on the ceiling." "Probably a bat. 'th'Queen, Sangudo, you're sure jumpy. You've got an overactive imagination, is all." He sighed. "I guess." He was beginning to wish he'd apprenticed himself like his father had wanted. Then they both heard a sharp cracking sound, brick on stone. "On th'other hand..." Clivia said, sheathing her stiletto and bringing her crossbow into a ready position. "You sure didn't imagine that." There was near-silence for a few moments, then a child's voice said, "Help! Sommun help!" Sangudo relaxed. "Just a kid. Whaddaya want, kid?" "I's walkin' in da Gaps, an' I's lost. Da floor slipped, and I hurt my foot. Mebbe's broken. Help! I's just a kid, but I c'n do somefin for ya." "Just wait, I'll go see," Sangudo said. "You crazy, 'Gudo? That could be a trap. 'Sides, even if it ain't, why not just let the kneebiter die?" "She called for help. And maybe she can help us. Low City kids know lots. You wanna go check with Noctu to see what he wants us to do?" Clivia didn't answer. "Okay, then. Gimme a torch." He drew his sword and took the torch in his other hand. Sangudo went around the corner, and there was the kid. It didn't look like a Low City kid--it had been freshly bathed and was wearing clean, if worn, clothes. But it was definitely injured--it was sitting down on the stones and holding one ankle in obvious pain. A brick was dislodged near its injured foot. So maybe it wasn't a Low City kid--some uptown kid that fell into the sewers and got lost. Probably from just across the Arcade. "Where's it hurt, kid?" he asked, bending down. "There," she said, bringing up a dagger and slicing him down the side of his face. He screamed in pain, dropping his sword and nearly the torch as well. Then a knife landed in his neck and he slumped to the ground, dead. "'Th'Queen," Clivia said. Damn, damn, damn. It would have to be her shift when they got invaded. Noctu'd sworn nobody could find this place. It could all be part of the initiation--a fake attack, Sangudo not really dead. But she really doubted that. She cocked her crossbow and stood silently, aiming at the corner. She could still see the light of Sangudo's torch--no, there, it went out, but there was another torch coming down the hallway. Then a shape leapt out at her and she fired a bolt into Sangudo's corpse as it flew into the wall. She dropped her crossbow--no time to reload--and pulled out her stiletto. When the first living form came around the corner, she was standing there at ready. A dagger came towards her, but she dodged and it hit the stone wall behind her with a dull clink, bounced off and dropped to the floor. She ran at the thrower with her stiletto, but he parried with another dagger. Two more shapes came into her field of vision, and she knew she was beaten, but she fought on. She put her back to the wall, but the butt of a spear came at her head and she dropped to the ground, unconscious. *** "Well, we can only hope that they didn't hear that guy's scream." Little Rat's cut had been unexpectedly vicious. Alfvaen had to keep reminding himself that this child had grown up under much different conditions than he had. Delmara briefly checked the woman Queriche had knocked out. "Will she live?" Delmara nodded. "I'd say tie her up, if we have time, or kill her." "Tie her up," Alfvaen said, and Queriche flipped her over, tying her hands behind her back in a fisherman's knot. When he was done, nobody had yet come out to bother them. "I guess nobody heard us. Well, then--let's go in." The door the two had been guarding looked simple enough, but he took some extra time to check for traps anyway. He pronounced it safe, and opened it. Beyond was a small room. The door on the other side was black with a silver spiderweb on it. No response. "Okay, let's go," Alfvaen said, opening the door to the shrine... -- ---Alfvaen(Canadian SF Quasi-Activist) "Does it ever seem like the brain disorders you have just aren't enough to keep you amused anymore?" --Dr. Strychnine Current Album--Kid Creole & The Coconuts:I, Too, Have Seen The Woods Current Read--Charles de Lint:Drink Down The Moon