Damian FINUCANE's Arc

Chapter 14 of 57

Damian stepped into the yard with the two torchmen already gone through the gate. Soon they would find the bound rider. Soon the tall man would learn a hunter stood in his yard. Damian had one chance to take him quiet, and no quiet moment to take. The master never stood alone. Five men circled the fire, and the tall man laughed among them. Rolo brushed past Damian, light on her feet. "He won't leave the fire while they watch him," she whispered. "So we make the fire leave." Damian frowned. "How?" She tipped her chin at a low building beside the wall. A bright counter glowed inside, a small kitchen stocked with wraps and cold drinks. "Cooks feed the yard. Empty the cook, and hungry men follow their bellies. Trust me. I lived on scraps like these." Rolo slipped inside the shop. Damian watched through the window. She moved along the counter, sweeping wrapped food and bottles into a sack, then knocked a stack of cups to the floor. The clatter carried across the yard. One of the men by the fire turned. "Kitchen's open," he called. Three rose at once and crossed toward the smell of warm food. They pushed through the door, grabbing wraps, laughing. The fire thinned. Only two men and the master remained. Damian breathed the way the master had drilled him. He let the yard blur, then sharpen. He drew the hidden blade from the cane and kept it low against his leg. Rolo appeared at the far side of the fire. She flicked something bright at the two remaining men. A bottle burst at their feet, then a second. "Free drinks," she sang, and pitched a whole armful over their heads toward the shop door. The two men swore and turned to chase the tumbling bottles. The tall man stood alone. Damian crossed the last steps fast. The master heard boots too late. He half-turned, hand dropping to his belt. Damian caught the scarred knuckles, twisted the arm behind the man's back, and pressed the blade to his throat. "Not a sound," Damian said. "You sent him to my house. Now you walk where I say." The tall man went still under the steel. "You're the boy with the runed sword," he breathed. "I'm the son of the man your killer murdered." Damian steered him toward the gate. Rolo darted ahead and swung it wide. Then a shout tore across the yard. The two torchmen ran back through the trees, dragging the bound rider between them. "Hunter!" one screamed. "He's a hunter!" The fed men spilled from the shop, wraps forgotten, blades out. The whole yard turned at once. Damian shoved the master through the gate and out into the dark. He had his enemy's handler by the throat. But the alarm was raised, the yard was awake, and the road behind him filled with running men.