“Arovan? But they never attack anyone,” Shade objected. thinking Charm was joking.
Charm shook his head again and laughed softly. “Never taunt a Firym, never anger a Delvay, never cheat an Avanti, and never underestimate an Arovan,” he said in a tone that suggested he was repeating a well-worn mantra.
“What’s the one for Morcaillo?” Shade asked curiously.
“Never taunt, anger, cheat, or underestimate a Morcaillo,” Charm replied, with a smirk, earning a frown from Shade.
“I believe the coined one is ‘Never trust a Morcaillo’,” Lex corrected quietly. “I judge by the individual, however,” he added with a smile to Shade.
“All of the houses have one of those?” Shade asked, amazed that he had never heard them before.
“It’s a Fionaveir thing, and yes they all have them. You will hear them all before long I’m sure,” Lex said and then stood from the wall as Vaze returned. “Should be a damn good fight. I’ll finally get to see your sword skill at something other than sparring,” he said with a grin and clapped Shade on the shoulder.
“Should be,” Shade agreed quietly, wishing he had the enthusiasm for the coming fight that Lex was showing. Unlike everyone else here, he knew their enemies too well. For his entire childhood he had dined with them, played with their children, and then dealt with them as a Lord himself when he ruled the Morcaillo district of the city. The battle lines had been drawn evenly between the houses with the exception of Delvay and Seravae who were yet to commit fully to either faction. With the way everything was split, Shade was on the opposite side of everyone he knew.
“We go now!” Vaze called loudly and magic washed over Shade as the translocation spell took effect. The courtyard faded to darkness to be replaced with the whistling of arrows and screams of his comrades.
Still reeling from the magic, it took Shade a long moment to realize what was going on. A hand shoved him roughly to the side and he stared in surprise at Lex who was deflecting arrows with his sword. “Fight, Shade, they were waiting for us!” Lex yelled.
Shade blinked once in response and quickly drew his swords. It took him a moment to get his bearings. They were south of the market near the Greenwild gate. Archers lined the walls and rooftops on three sides and a battalion of Justicars filled the street beyond. Two of the roads had been barricaded hastily with wagons, forming a neat box to trap them.
“Fight!” Vaze bellowed to those still too stunned to move. Darkness welled around the commander’s head, forming a helm that solidified like his armor. He drew his blades from his hips and charged toward the waiting Justicars. As he ran the shadows around him blurred again forming twin echoes of his body. Shade watched in fascination as shadowy arms drew the swords from his back. It was like looking at three of the same man standing in the same spot. At times there seemed to be just one body and then Vaze would move quickly to strike and the mirror images of himself would twist in a different directions. Six swords danced from the same body and the Justicars reeled back from the assault.
“Shade! Fight!” Lex yelled again and Shade shook his head quickly, embarrassed by his own lack of action. Arrows still rained down on them with deadly precision and it seemed as though the majority of the Fionaveir were centering on the wall of armored enemies.
Putting his swords away quickly Shade stepped back against a wall and called on his changeling abilities. It was clear where he would be the most use to his comrades. He searched the nearby walls for a quick way to his enemies as his body shifted over to that of a Blight. With the Blight camouflage up he climbed quickly and closed on the first archer. It wasn’t an honorable way to kill, but then neither was shooting them like fish in a barrel.
An explosion sounded as he reached the top of the wall and a wave of fire rose high above the city near the Academy. Not just us that was ambushed then, Shade reasoned as he recognized the work of a Firym. That was pure fire that had risen, not Hellfire such as the Rivasan used. Likely it had been Havoc removing the archers from his area in a less subtle fashion.
Turning back to the Archers before him Shade drew a dagger from his belt. As he drew the blade across the man’s throat, Hemlock’s offer to train him rang in his mind. This wasn’t Assassin’s work he told himself firmly. This was necessary no matter how wrong it felt. There were Fionaveir dying below from the arrows these men were shooting, and more would die if he tried killing them honorably with swords.
He moved to the next Archer quickly before they had a chance to realize someone was killing them off. The man glanced over his shoulder as Shade approached and with a moment of disgust he realized he knew the man. He was from house Avanti and Shade had drunk with him a time or two. Swallowing his growing revulsion Shade drew the dagger quickly across the man’s throat before he could call out.
Another explosion split the night as the gate of the Merro district exploded, sending shards of rock and dust high into the air. Shade paused in his grisly work long enough to watch riders emerge from the cloud, running hard for the center of the city. The dark wine colored hair of the lead rider was unmistakable and Shade had to fight back the urge to call out to Jala as she rode past.
“Fight on, push them now!” Vaze bellowed as the battle below him thickened. The Fionaveir were hard pressed and outnumbered and couldn’t afford any distractions. Pushing thoughts of Jala away, Shade turned his attentions back to his own work. With luck, he would get a chance to speak with her after the city was won.
A scream sounded below and Shade glanced down long enough to see yet another Fionaveir fall to a Justicars blade. If they won, he amended and prayed that Lex was still among the fighters rather than one of the corpses. He didn’t have many friends left and the thought of losing another made his task a little more bearable.
Chapter 29
Sanctuary