Azure bonds - Kate Novak [157]
Akabar would remain in Cassana's clutches, not something Olive would wish on anyone, certainly not on Akabar, whom she liked a little.
Alias was another matter. Olive found it difficult to like someone so perfect, but she felt more guilt about abandoning the swordswoman. For one thing, Olive realized, I owe her for rescuing me from the dragon and saving my life. She let me join her party, and she shared her songs with me. She stole my audience once, but she'll never do that again. After the ceremony she'll probably never sing songs again. Without a will she'll be a zombie, and zombies don't sing. All those lovely melodies and haunting lyrics would be lost to the world. That would be a crime, Olive sighed.
Not that people like Cassana, who liked kidnapping, torture, and murder, would care about such a loss to the musical world. Of course, I'd be just as responsible if I didn't do anything to stop the witch and her merry band, Olive acknowledged.
Jump, Olive-girl, the halfling told herself, before you wind up doing something you may regret later. The halfling could not get out of her head the image of Akabar being beaten and the sound of Dragonbait's head hitting each step as the Fire Knives dragged him downstairs.
But the thought of Alias never singing again was even worse.
Olive swung her feet back into the building, jumped to the floor, and left the room. The upper hallway was still empty, but she heard men's voices coming from somewhere below. Pausing to listen, she noticed great drops of red dotting the steps below her. Blood. Akabar's or Dragonbait's? she wondered. She followed the red spatters down the stairs.
The voices were coming from the kitchen. The trail of blood went through the entry hall in the opposite direction. Olive tracked it to an alcove that featured a particularly obscene statue of an overly endowed succubus.
The trail ended in a pool of blood at the base of the statue, as if the prisoner had been left there for a moment. Olive made a "tch" sound. Why didn't they tell the world there was a secret passage here somewhere? she scoffed.
Footsteps and voices approached from the dining room. Olive ducked behind the statue of the succubus.
"-unfair. That's all I'm saying," the first protested.
"Unfair doesn't mean a thing to Her Ladyship," the second voice argued. "We don't have the seniority, we don't have the clout. The rest get to play clerics and gods in a few hours. We don't rate. So what?" Here the speaker's words became incoherent as his mouth was occupied with chewing and swallowing, "-prefer raiding Her Ladyship's larder to standing outside in the cold and damp. What?"
"Something by the dungeon door. Watch."
Olive's intestines cramped uncomfortably. Of all the stupid things-I've chosen the exact spot they're heading for!
A soft footstep then a second crept closer to the alcove. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Olive would have giggled at the picture of a burly human trying to creep like a halfling across the floor. She didn't even need to guess how close he was, she could feel the floorboards shift slightly under his weight. Pressing her back against the wall, she thrust against the statue's pedestal with her feet.
The top-heavy statue rocked, then toppled from its pedestal. The crash of stone against stone blended with the sickening thunk of flesh and bone being crushed by a great weight, as the succubus claimed the life of the first Fire Knife. The stonework ran with fresh blood.
The other Fire Knife, a grossly overweight human with a stubby short sword in one hand and half of a melon in the other, had been standing ten feet away when his partner had met his demise. His eyes were wide with shock, but he approached the pedestal. Olive slipped out of the alcove to face her attacker.
"Murr," muttered the Fire Knife. Whether this was the name of some god or his late companion, Olive did not know. "Ya just a girl. C'mon, kid, I'll make it fast. We'll just lock ya up until…"
The halfling didn't wait to find out how long she'd