Invisibles

The Mask #2

Kelebek crept down the alleyway, leaving Saint behind her on the street. He was too conspicuous to follow closely but fast enough to catch up with her if he sensed trouble ahead. She had built enough golems to trust in that fact.

Saint's senses caught not only Kelebek's movements but also the group on the street in front of the Watertakers' hideout. Though they were almost a block away, he could hear them creeping toward the door. Saint hefted the massive scattergun he carried onto his clay shoulder. He hoped Alina would be more careful this time.

Alina and Percival lurked by the steps at the front of the building.

Martin stood back from Alina, armored hands clenched. He knew he could not afford to be reckless, but they were taking too long if Ceth meant to harm the woman he had just tugged inside seconds ago. These two were young, but compared to him they had ice in their veins. Once, Martin had been sworn to protect, as all members of the Hound Legion. Of the places he had been, only Sarsa seemed to strip away virtue so quickly.

He circled Alina to the foot of the steps. He marched up them.

Saint heard his footfalls and knew the plan was going awry. Martin was a skilled brawler, but he was also a good man. Sometimes Martin wished he had been more like Martin when alive. The rest of him figured that would have gotten him killed even faster. He followed Kelebek toward the back of the building, not worried about his heavy steps. Martin was making noise up front. The Watertakers would be busy by the time Saint arrived.

Percival whispered to Martin, "What are you doing?"

Martin ignored him and knocked on the front door of the building they planned to rob, a building full of korda gang members. The slat in the door opened with a click. "What do you want, legionnaire?"

He met the eyes looking out at him from the door with an even gaze. "I'm off duty. Not really a legionnaire right now."

"Then get lost. You ought to know where you are, dog man."

"I know exactly where I am, watertaker."

"Ceth!" said the door guard.

Martin's stone-gauntleted hands punched through the door. Fingers unwrapped an grabbed the man's forearms. He pulled, so the korda hit the door between them. He groaned and fell to the floor. Martin pulled the door open.

Percival and Alina stared at him. Another pair of eyes glared in Martin's direction from the far end of the hallway behind the door. They glared at him over a jeweled korda breathing mask. "Legionnaire," said Ceth. "What are you doing here?"

Alina scrambled up the stairs, Percival at her back. She grabbed Martin's shoulder just as he freed his hands from the broken door. "This is trouble."

"I'm good at trouble." Martin's eyes did not leave Ceth's. "Bring it on, korda."

As Percival reached the second to the top step, just behind Alina and Martin, he spotted four more korda gangsters as they emerged from doors on either side of the hall, between Martin and Ceth.

"Time to go," Percival said.

"No." Martin stepped into the hallway. Percival may be practical, but in this situation pragmatism became cowardice. Martin was a trained soldier. He did not need to back down from a handful of men with knives, especially with Saint so close by. The korda would be lucky if they only met his fists.

He hefted a mallet in each hand, both of them small, but with stone heads. Martin's skill in geomancy allowed him to make those heads hit harder than they had any right. He marched into the hallway. The first korda lunged at him. Martin broke his arm and kicked the knife behind him. He heard Alina pick it up. Two more of Ceth's goons rushed Martin. He sent one into the wall and cracked the other's knee.

Ceth backpedaled, trying to put distance between himself and Martin. Percival did not blame the gang leader. Too bad for us there are still ten more of them in there. No way will Martin have an easy time of it, and either way we'll all have a new set of enemies in these parts. Percival grimaced as he saw Alina holding the knife dropped by the korda gingerly in one hand.

"No use," he said, "If they get past Martin we had better run."

She shook her head. "I don't think so." Alina did not like the idea of shedding blood, but she had seen enough of it to know that's often how gangs worked. She followed Martin into the hallway, past the moaning and whimpering forms of fallen Watertakers.

Martin dropped the fourth goon. He smiled at Ceth, who was fumbling with a bag on his belt a few feet away.

"What's the matter?" he said. "Attached to your limbs."

Ceth grunted. He pulled a pistol, all brass in color, from the bag and aimed it at Martin's head. "Don't take a step further."

Martin lowered his mallets to his sides. "Hey, good effort."

"I won't miss," said Ceth. "You're a dead hound now."

Martin knew all too well what the pistol could do at that range, but he was now stuck in this hallway.

The door behind Ceth slammed open like a gunshot. Smoke poured out of it, gray and choking. Ceth whirled to look behind him. Martin's mallet cracked down on his skull. Ceth staggered, then crumpled against the wall. Alina ran forward and pulled the gun from his hands. The smoke in the room beyond him resolved into the form of a woman, Rethe, the korda woman who had walked beside her on their way down the street.

Rethe regarded Martin with a smile visible through her breathing mask. "What do you know, a knight to the rescue," she said. "Good timing."

He frowned at her. She did not look like she had been in trouble, which meant she could have been playing them all along.

"Who are you?" Martin asked.