Masquerades - Kate Novak [167]
The nobleman backed away, apparently having stabbed to death whatever had hindered his movement. There was blood on his hands and dagger, but some of it, Alias suspected, was the nobleman's own. "Victor, we can't stay here any longer. Give Thistle the key," she ordered.
Victor smiled coldly. "Not a chance," he said.
"Victor, we could be swarming in manes any minute. We can't fight them all. We'll die. You'll die."
"You've destroyed everything I have worked years for. At least I'll have the satisfaction of knowing I had my vengeance on you, bitch."
Alias shook with fury. She drew her sword and took a step in his direction. "You can give me that key, or I can slice you in half and loot it from your body."
Victor pulled the feather brooch from the pocket of his robe and held it up. Alias reached her hand out. The nobleman laughed, and flung the brooch away. The piece of jewelry arced over Dragonbait and Thistle and disappeared into the mists. It made a tiny clatter when it hit the floor.
"You've gone mad," Alias growled. To Dragonbait and Thistle she said, "You'd better start looking for it. Hurry. I'll keep Dhostar still." She raised the tip of her sword to the nobleman's throat.
Dragonbait took Thistle's hand and led her in the direction Victor had thrown the brooch.
"Maybe you should give them a hand," Victor joked.
Alias kept her sword leveled at the villain's throat.
"Then again," the nobleman said with a smirk, "I don't suppose that will be necessary anymore."
Behind her Alias heard a hiss, then a growl. Alias whirled around and backed up quickly so that Victor would be at her left hand instead of her back. Advancing toward her was a halfling-sized creature with pale white skin, a bloated torso, and razor-sharp claws and teeth. Pus dripped from its mindless white eyes.
Alias waited until the mane was just within reach of her sword. With a single stroke, she cleaved the Abyssal creature in two, and it dissipated back into a stinking mist. Alias gagged from the stench.
"My, how valorous," Victor taunted.
Alias did not reply. Her attention was focused on the hoard of creatures rising from the mists, all as disgusting as the first. Ten, twenty, thirty, she counted to herself, knowing there would be more.
"Too bad it's vaporized," the noble continued. "You could have had it mounted-show off your-" Victor went silent.
Alias sensed the nobleman backing away.
"Dhostar, stay at my back," she barked. "It's our only chance."
Whether Victor chose to abandon the swordswoman or simply panicked, Alias would never know. Whichever it was, the nobleman turned and ran. Alias glanced over her shoulder and saw him trip and fall into the mist.
More manes rose up, surrounding the downed noble, then leaped upon him, rending his flesh with their claws and teeth. Alias had turned away to keep her eyes on the larger hoard of manes approaching her, but Victor's screams filled the air all around the swordswoman. The nobleman's death gave her no satisfaction, but neither did she feel any regret.
With ice in her heart, she charged a flank of the manes, swinging her sword fast and hard, felling instantly each creature she struck. They were not tremendously powerful monsters, but Alias knew better than to be heartened by her victories. They could reform again within a day. The real strength of manes, however, lay in their numbers and their mindless compulsion to attack regardless of any danger to themselves. It was only a matter of time before enough manes formed to overwhelm her. She could choke on the poisonous vapors of their dissipating corpses, or slip on a patch of their slick blood and find herself beneath a mound of their bodies, or just grow exhausted and fall unconscious.
The longer she kept the monsters interested in herself, though, the longer Dragonbait and Thistle would have to find the feather brooch so they could escape.
As the manes closed in on her, Alias worked at felling their