Masquerades - Kate Novak [101]
The front door burst open, and a large wooden keg rolled into the front hall. The paladin wasted no more time on the secret panel. He slipped into the stairwell and flew down the steps.
Overhead, an even bigger explosion rocked not only the house but its foundation as well. Brick, mortar, and wood began pouring down on the paladin's head, and the spiral staircase, which Dragonbait had just stepped off of, fell over into the basement. No one was going to notice that the secret panel was out of place, the paladin realized. In the dark he could sense the heat coming off Alias, Olive, and Melman, and he hurried down the passage to where they waited in the dark.
He pulled his sword and whispered the command for it to ignite. By the light of the flame he could see Alias holding her hands over Olive's leg, trying to stanch the blood that oozed from a great wound. Melman stood pressed against a wall, breathing heavily, his eyes wide with terror.
Thinking they would be safe enough in the basement for at least a few minutes, Dragonbait handed the flaming sword to Alias and bent over the halfling to heal her wound.
Alias stood up and was instantly aware of how much warmer the air near the ceiling was than the air at the floor. The flames from Dragonbait's sword flickered toward the ruined secret staircase. Air coming in from the secret passage to the outside was feeding the fire above.
Something overhead spattered to the floor and spread out with a gleam. Alias looked up in astonishment. One of the heavy floorboards beneath Melman's treasure room had cracked in the last explosion and molten gold was now dripping into the basement.
"I've stopped the bleeding, but she's still unconscious," the paladin said. His mouth dropped when he caught sight of the shower of gold. "Pity she'll miss this," he added.
Alias thrust the flaming sword back in the paladin's hand. "Get Melman out," she ordered. She scooped the halfling over her shoulders again and ran after the paladin and the Night Master. At the secret door, she hesitated. She could leave it open, feeding the fire so that there would be nothing but ash left-making it certain the Night Masks wouldn't expect to find Melman's bones. Concerned that smoke might drift out and reveal the passage's existence, though, she decided against it. With a quick tug, she pulled the door closed and hurried down the passage.
It was quiet in the passage, but Alias hustled them through it, fearful that it might collapse. When they finally reached the dry wash, she set down the halfling and took a rest. Melman collapsed on the ground.
Dragonbait stood over the Night Master, assuring himself that Melman didn't try to escape before Alias was through with him. "What are we going to do with this one?" he asked the swordswoman.
"Well, I had thought we might lock him up in one of the cells below his own house," Alias said. She peered over the edge of the dry wash and watched the flames dancing along the roof of Melman's former abode. "I don't think we should bring Lord Victor into this, considering the deal we've made with Melman."
"You're going to have to impose on Mintassan again," the paladin noted.
"I know," Alias sighed. In the south of Westgate, a false dawn blossomed as the roof of Melman's house collapsed and the flames shot higher into the air. "He's not going to be happy about my turning his house into a home for retired Night Masks."
"But he will oblige you, I think."
Alias nodded, realizing uncomfortably that, while House Dhostar was paying her to take out the Night Masks, other people were shouldering even greater shares of the burden to get the job done.
Fifteen
The Lair of the Faceless
The fog that had drifted through Westgate's streets the night before now climbed as high as the city's wall and poured into the outlying countryside. The midday sun, covered with layer after layer of clouds, was power-less to burn off the mists. From the top floor of the Tower Alias surveyed the few islands of solid matter high enough to poke above the gray shroud: the towers of the merchant