Return of the Stormcriers

CHAPTER 40 - BLOOD AND DEATH

  "I assure you, we do not know who you are!" Anthony yelled back to Moonshadow, silently sliding his sword from his sheath.

  "I do not like liars," Moonshadow hissed back. "I do not know who you are, or why you attacked me in the forest, but I give you this one opportunity. Turn back now, return to whoever it is that sent you, and leave me be. I have no fight with you yet." He chose his words carefully, as if each one held immense potential, or perhaps he was merely unfamiliar with speaking their language. As Matt had noticed when the assassin had first spoken, while his voice contained a hard edge, it remained soft and slippery, like a hiss and a whisper, chilling Matt's blood. If a snake could talk, he imagined it would sound like Moonshadow.

  "You are in no position to give us orders," Anthony thundered, pushing past Cliff to be closest to the door. "From what I can see, you have trapped yourself in the inn. What is to stop us from burning it down with you inside?"

  The answer was immediate, "You would not dare, unless you wish to burn alive the honest patrons of this establishment that are kindly keeping us company tonight."

  "If you let them go we can discuss ending this without bloodshed," Anthony's eyes widened in horror at the prospect of fighting Moonshadow through human shields. Cliff motioned gently for him to remain calm as he continued to scan the windows for ambushers and traps. He turned his free hand in a circular motion, silently asking for the Duke of Dragonfyre to stall for more time.

  "I have told you already, I do not like liars," the assassin replied. "If you do not leave the porch I will be forced to kill hostages." Muffled shouts of outrage and brief cries for help echoed from inside the inn only to be swiftly silenced by Moonshadow's men after an audible scuffle.

The young Duke's face darkened and grew more serious than Matt had ever seen; the wheels in his mind turned almost audibly as he struggled to shape his response. Scowling in silent frustration, Anthony motioned for Matt and Sylvia to continue around the porch to the side of the building and his brother and Clay to the other as they, like Matt, had stopped at the sound of the assassin's voice.

Taking silent steps towards their destination, Matt turned his head toward the door, unable to tear his eyes from the tense negotiation. Just as before their fight in the Trensin Woods colorless, untethered sparks, the possibilities of potential energy to be summoned, swirled around Anthony like a swarm of angry bees, raising the hair on Matt's arms with their electrical tingle even as far from the source as he stood. Individual tendrils sprang to life with pops of blue and white around the Duke's hand, fading in and out as Anthony's emotions breathed life into the sparks, drawing them into the tangible world. The crackling blue energy fully encircled his now raised fist, popping audibly as Matt and Sylvia stepped around the building, the wooden walls blocking their companions from sight.

A thunderous, explosive crash of splintering timber shook the building behind them, a cacophonous testament of Anthony's power, directed toward the barred entrance. Shouts and screams echoed from the interior of the building as, presumably, Bax had entered through the wreckage of the door. The ringing of steel filled the air as swords clashed together in the front room of the inn, each clash sounding a potential bell of death for its recipient. Matt could only pray that the cries of pain tore only from the lips of their enemies.

  "How well can you climb?" Matt asked, sheathing his sword and grabbing hold of a wooden beam on the side of the building.

  "I am a decent climber," Sylvia grunted, pulling herself up on a beam that ran parallel to Matt's with a surprising amount of arm strength. He had not doubted her fortitude and resolve, but he had not expected a lady of the nobility to be quite so athletic. A brief memory of Sylvia and Anthony joking about being scolded for climbing Dragonfyre Keep reentered his mind; of course, he should have known she could climb. Anthony would not have given his cousin a task that he did not believe she could accomplish. The nobles of Verden were made of sterner stuff than he had supposed.