Rise of the Blade - Charles Moffat [77]
Silence.
Pierce put his hands together and clapped.
Draque followed suit and whistled shrilly.
The drow bard looked down upon the throng of people as their clapping grew and swelled into a thundering cheer. Tears ran down her cheeks as she bowed and slid her violin into the harness on her back. She turned to leave through a latch in the ceiling used by the janitors to clean the top of the three story high room.
"Come down!"
"Come down!" more people shouted.
Looking back, Valeska spotted Pierce and Marque Draque motioning her to come back. Acceptance? she wondered for a moment.
"Draque, cast a flying spell on me quick," Pierce muttered, taking off his swordbelt.
The mage nodded and took an eagle's feather from his belt and tapped it on the warrior's shoulder while murmuring his enchantment.
At will the warrior soared upwards into the rafters and stood floating before the bard. Holding out a hand, Pierce smiled hopefully. "You're safe with me. The Academy's walls shall be your shield tonight," he whispered.
The words touched the woman profoundly and she couldn't help but hold out her hand and accept his offer.
Wrapping one firm arm around her, the warrior dropped to the floor below slowly and floated down to the cheering people. It wasn't until now that Pierce realized how short and diminative she really was. Barely a couple inches over five feet and incredibly lightweight.
"You're making a huge mistake, you know that right?" Valeska whispered.
"If the Harpers and your kin don't like it they can't do anything about it except kill me. The Harpers won't resort to it, and your kin are more likely to want you dead more than ever and forget about me. The only drow warrior who could stand a chance against me is Drizzt Do'Urden and I think we can both agree where his allegiance would be."
The remains of the d'Or ship in the harbour was the quietest place Chev could find for a decent night's sleep. His desciption was widely known now and it was getting incredibly hard to find rest which he especially needed with his new wound. Before settling down to sleep he made certain that the wound was bound tightly so it wouldn't become infected easily.
His eyes were just about to drift into the realm of sleep when he heard a crash from above the deck. Looking up, the warrior saw moonlight coming through a hole in the ceiling where a booted foot had fallen through a rotten board and gotten stuck.
Throwing caution to the wind, the warrior stood and severed the foot from its owner and listened to the screaming curses from above. The sound was cut off by a sudden shout followed by a splash. Chev ducked under a beam and climbed up the ladder to the latch and pushed it open with his blue glowing longsword.
A grisly dwarven face looked down at Chev and wiped slobber off black beard with the back of his hand. "That was a mean move!" he snarled.
Chev cocked his head to one side so he could see the dwarf better. "What's it to you?"
"Me?" the dwarf laughed between scarred lips. "I never cared for that guy's leg anyway. I'magin he don't think that way though! Can't swim that well with only one foot!"
"Any reason why you're trying to sneak up on me?"
"Other than to have our feet cut off by a professional?" asked the dwarf. "I'magin it's cuz the boss wants to her hire your bald rear end."
"I don't want to know what other body parts you dwarves grow hair on," Chev replied. "Is your boss up there, or is he absent for this meeting?"
"I still have my legs if that's what you mean," said a stern deep voice.
"And will you treat my head the same should I stick it through the latch?"
"Your head is far more valuable where it is. That would be like cutting down a large diamond into dust and what good is diamond dust? What good are you without your head?" asked the stern voice.
"Rat food I'magin," grunted the dwarf.
Chev climbed the latch and held his sword at ready and his other hand on the sheathed Sharkslayer. The blue light off the blade and the yellow flickering torchlight added a green touch to everyone's