Temple Hill - Drew Karpyshyn [50]
Tm not completely incompetent," Lhasha protested.
'You brought me along to handle the guards," Corin explained, "and I'll have an easier time with them if I don't have to worry about keeping you safe during the battle." He cut off further discussion by adding, "Remember what you said earlier: don't argue with the expert."
Gingerly, Corin stepped off the rafter and onto Fendel's collapsible ladder.
"At least if you fall, you won't squish me on the way down," Lhasha teased.
"Not funny," Corin growled. "Wait up here till I give you the all clear."
With a deep breath, Corin began his agonizingly slow descent, carefully guarding against any possibility of a slip that would send him plunging to floor below.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
From a hidden corner a pair of malevolent eyes followed the warrior's progress. Coiled in the shadows between the boxes and crates the watcher studied him, and flicked its lips with a forked tongue. The watcher could hear his thoughts, and it knew there was another. A female, waiting up above. They were here to steal the package the watcher protected. That would not happen.
The man was nervous, the watcher sensed. He feared a trap. Yet still he came down. Foolish, like most humans.
The male reached the ground. Look left, look right, his thoughts said, check for guards. But he couldn't see the watcher lurking in the darkness.
The urge to leap out and strike was there, but the watcher would not yield to the temptation of the quick kill. It knew patience. It would wait for the other, then kill them both.
The warrior stood very still, then tilted his head, listening. The watcher remained as still as a statue, giving no clue to betray its presence.
At last the male waved a hand and called up in a whisper, "All clear, Lhasha."
The female quickly joined her companion on the floor. Her thoughts were free of the unease that plagued her companion; the watcher sensed this female was excited and curious. I can't wait to see what this package is, she thought. The watcher knew the female's curiosity would be her death.
It had been many days since the watcher's last meal- another overly curious human, a warehouse worker named Berg. Since then, none had dared come beyond the wall of crates. Even the rats and vermin avoided this area. And the watcher had been forbidden by the master to go out into the rest of the warehouse to hunt. Now the hunt had come to it. Two thieves caught in the act. Two meals for the taking. The small one looked tender and sweet, the large looked hearty and filling.
The watcher briefly considered unleashing a blast of magical fire to incinerate the intruders, but quickly passed up the idea. The fire could spread about the building. At the very least it would draw the attention of the workers-something the watcher was forbidden to do. Plus, cooked meat was tough and tasteless. The best food was fresh.
With a whisper of scales on scales, the watcher crept ever so slowly toward them, relishing the coming slaughter. The noise went unnoticed by the two intruders.
Slithering around a pile of bones and tough leather boots-the indigestible remains of the unfortunate Berg-the watcher moved to the edge of the shadows and waited. Its days were filled with numbing tedium. It had long ago grown bored with the assignment. Now it was curious to see what the thieves would do next. It would toy with them as it had toyed with Berg.
"How's it coming?" the male asked, as the female carefully scanned the area around the door. Her head dipped as she surveyed the floor, then tilted slowly back as her focus climbed the length of the door.
"These things take time, Corin. You don't want me setting off an alarm, do you?"
"An alarm?" the male asked.
"I don't see one yet," she admitted, "but if this package is worth the fee we've been paid, there has to be something besides nasty rumors and a wall of crates to keep those workers out."
"I was sure there'd be more guards," the male