The Shattered Land_ The Dreaming Dark - Keith Baker [62]
Lei’s voice pulled Pierce from his reverie. “Yes, Lei,” he said. “My apologies. My injuries remain a distraction.”
“I’m sorry to leave you like this,” she said, refusing to meet his gaze; Pierce could sense her indignation. “With the day still ahead of us … you know.” She looked away.
“I do,” he replied. “Do not be ashamed. You must conserve your magical energies, and your skill with hand and tool shall suffice for this task. I have faith in your talents: a few moments more and we shall arrive at our inn, and you can begin the work.”
She smiled, and for a moment Pierce didn’t feel his pain.
Distracted as he was, Pierce could still recognize a threat. A large man—not quite large enough to have orcish blood in his veins, but carrying both muscle and fat on his frame—was purposely approaching them. He wore a shirt of rusting chainmail beneath a soiled gray tabard. There was a halberd in his hand and leather-bound club at his belt. A guard or watchman, Pierce concluded. With some bemusement, he noticed a smaller figure trotting next to the heavyset man—a bedraggled halfling wearing a miniature version of the same uniform, carrying a tiny halberd that Pierce could have used as a walking stick.
“Just what have you been up to, orasca?”
It was the halfling who spoke, his voice a nasal whine. His skin was remarkably dark, while his eyes were a pale shade of blue. He wore the hood of his tabard up, but as he spoke Pierce got a good look at his face and saw that the halfling’s left ear was missing; scar tissue covered the back of his head, seemingly the result of a grievous injury. Pierce wondered if the man had fought during the Last War, and if so what had caused him to abandon the Five Nations for this place.
Lei took the lead. “I’m sorry, is there a problem?”
“There are always problems in Stormreach,” the little man replied, studying her with an appraising gaze. “Your warforged looks like he might have been involved with one of them.”
“Oh, I doubt it,” Lei replied. “I purchased him from the smith down the way with the black barrel over his door. I don’t even think he’s been on his feet for a month, so I don’t see how he could have caused any trouble.”
“Is that so, tincoat?” the halfling probed at Pierce’s injured cords with the point of his halberd, sending new signals of pain across Pierce’s consciousness.
Pierce simply nodded.
“Well then,” the watchman examined Pierce again. “Selling such trash to visitors to our fair city—a crime, is what it is. I can’t allow it, lady.”
“I’m quite satisfied—”
“I didn’t ask,” the halfling said sharply, turning the point of his halberd toward Lei.
The larger man sniggered loudly.
The instant the halberd turned on Lei, Pierce was considering courses of action, weighing the odds and merits of a direct strike versus an attempt to trip or disarm the little man, yet these were guardsmen. He and Lei had been involved in a robbery. To fight the watch as well …
“I think the safest course of action would be for you to give us your gold and goods, lady,” the halfling continued. “That should keep you from making any unwise purchases in the future.”
Lei and Pierce exchanged glances. Lei didn’t have much money on her, but her enchanted pack was extremely valuable, and her staff was irreplaceable.
“Stormreach guard, yes?” the halfling snapped, seeing their hesitation. “When the guard asks, you give.”
Pierce could see that Lei wasn’t going to surrender to these two. He had grown accustomed to her temper, and if she was going to fight, he would stand by her side. He loosened the chain of his flail, ready to strike—
And the guards fell down.
It took a moment for the event to fully register in Pierce’s mind. A lithe figure stood over the fallen guards, wrapped in tattered burlap and a stained gray cloak. Her face was hidden beneath a deep hood and motheaten scarf. He hadn’t seen her approach; she must have stepped up behind the big man. A single kick for the halfling, a swift jab in a tender spot for the bulky man … both were stretched out across the muddy cobblestones, dead to the world.