Hunched over the long table in the council chamber, Lucius flicked his gaze over to Ambrose, who sat straight, arms wrapped around himself as he shuddered. The veteran thief looked shaken to his core, and Lucius could not blame him, for the events of the evening weighed heavily on his mind.
It had been his operation, his plan. The thieves who had volunteered knew there were risks involved but that did not excuse what had happened. His big ideas had cost thirteen men their lives, unless by some miracle, a few had managed to evade those hideous creatures and were, even now, making their way back to the guildhouse. Lucius now had to explain himself to Magnus and tell him exactly why his operation had gone so tragically wrong. In part, he resented the deaths. Up to now, Lucius had never been responsible for anyone, and this was an excellent illustration as to why he had avoided it so long. He wondered how the Hands had managed to sucker him in, made him feel part of their guild and accept the accountability he now faced. At the same time, he knew it was a childish regret, that the lives of good men — thieves though they may be — was an order of magnitude above his own petty concerns. He had no idea what he would say to Magnus. He still did not understand what had happened.
Of the three who had survived boarding the ship, Lucius was to answer for the tragedy, as would Ambrose, being the only senior thief to emerge unscathed from the Voyager. The only other thief to make it out alive, Sandtrist, had been excused on account of his injuries; Lucius had already heard that he was likely to lose his foot, and what use would the Hands have for a one-footed thief? In his own way, Sandtrist had been lost that evening as well.
Footsteps sounded from outside the room, and Lucius braced himself for the confrontation, though he still had little idea of what he would say. Ambrose seemed not to have noticed the sound, and he did not look up when Magnus entered and stood, watching the two thieves.
Since he had known the guildmaster, Lucius had thought him wise, extremely competent and utterly benevolent to those in his charge. But as he looked at the man's face, he could see a terrible hardness in his eyes, an iron will he had always suspected must lie within Magnus, but had never seen. The guildmaster smouldered with barely contained rage, and Lucius swallowed, awaiting the onslaught.
"Would you like to tell me," Magnus said, starting quietly but gradually allowing his anger to take control until he shouted the last words: "Just why thirteen of my thieves are dead?"
"Ambush — " Lucius began, but his voice was too quiet.
Striding over to the table, Magnus hammered a fist down, the sudden violent sound jerking Lucius back. It even seemed to rouse Ambrose.
"What?" Magnus said in a deafening tone that promised quick punishment to anyone who would chance a wrong answer.
Lucius cleared his throat and started again. "We were ambushed, Magnus, there was no warning, I — "
Magnus' fist crashed down on the table again. "What happened to your plans? Where were the sentries? Why did no one see them approach? Why are my men dead, Lucius?"
"They weren't human, Magnus."
"Who weren't? What are you talking about?"
"They just swarmed all over the ship while we were unloading. I swear to you, we scouted the area, silenced the sentry, and only then started the haul. But they were on us in seconds, too many of them. They started killing…" Lucius broke off at that, seeing again in his mind's eye the terrible carnage on the deck of the ship.
"So who was it?" Magnus demanded.
"I… I think they came from the sea."
Magnus looked utterly confused. "As an excuse, this is a poor one, Lucius," he said dangerously.
"He's telling the truth," Ambrose said, and they both looked at him in surprise. "On my mother's grave, Magnus, he's telling the truth."
Magnus sighed and, drawing out a seat, sat down with them.
"You better tell me what happened, from start to finish. Leave nothing out," he said.
So Lucius explained, with Ambrose adding comments where he could. He told Magnus how he had begun preparations for the operation, using the Hand's resources to learn about the ship and its cargo. He outlined the different teams involved, who was part of each, and what their expected roles were. He told how they had boarded the ship, located the silk, and then started offloading it.
Then he began telling Magnus of the appearance of the first creature, describing how it looked, its strength and deadly, murderous intent. Intentionally leaving out the use of his magical talents, he went on to tell of the slaughter that had followed, of the sheer number of the creatures that had boarded the ship after them, and how men had died. Their desperate escape from the Voyager followed, along with the pursuit across the docks and the final, terrifying assault on the platform as they fled the scene. When he finished, Lucius was shaking, the retelling of the events forcing him to relive them once more.
Magnus' anger had subsided, but he shook his head in disbelief.
"I have never heard of such things," he said simply.
"On my mother's grave, Magnus," Ambrose said again, and the seriousness of his expression seemed to give Magnus pause.
"You think they came from the sea?" he asked.
Lucius shrugged helplessly. "They seemed… adapted to it," he said, remembering the foul sea stench, the webbed claws and scaled skin. "And they moved slower once they had been out of the water for a few minutes."
"I noticed that," Ambrose said.
"Well do you have any idea why they were there?" Magnus asked. "Who sent them?"
They both shook their heads.
"I would dearly like to blame the Guild for this," Lucius said. "But I saw nothing to suggest their involvement."
"Then there are three possibilities that come to mind," Magnus said. "First, the Guild has new allies. Second, we have inadvertently wandered into some dispute between the Allantians and these… sea demons."
"And third?" Lucius prompted.
"Third, there is a new power in the city." He raised a hand in a helpless gesture. "But none of those seem very likely to me. What would sea demons want with a city on land? Why have we heard nothing about them before? None of this makes sense."
He prompted Lucius to retell the story again, searching for any information that had been missed the first time, anything that could give him a clue as to what his thieves had faced that night. No matter how many times he quizzed Lucius over particular points, however, they seemed no closer to the truth. Magnus was about to ask Lucius to describe the attack on the Voyager again, when shouts and excited cries reached them from the open door. When someone shouted for the guildmaster, panic evident in his voice, they all started.
Leading the way, Magnus rushed from the meeting room and vaulted down the stairs, Lucius and Ambrose in tow, where another thief directed him to one of the rooms used as sleeping quarters. Trotting behind Magnus, Lucius entered the room and gasped.
Tiny though the room was a dozen thieves were gathered in a tightly packed mass that they had to push their way through, some only relinquishing their place when they saw it was Magnus who had entered. Lying on the bed, its sheets already soaked through with his blood, was Caradoc. Helmut, a thief from Vosburg who was versed in some of the arts of healing, was tending to him, fussing over a crossbow bolt that jutted from the lieutenant's shoulder. Writhing in pain, Caradoc looked up at Magnus as he entered.
"Caught me on Ring Street," he gasped. "Tried to kill me."
"Would have done too, but for another three inches to the left," Helmut muttered to no one in particular.
"Who?" Magnus said, leaning over the bed to catch Caradoc's words.
"Didn't see," he said. "Too dark. But… Guild. Has to be… the Guild. They've broken the truce."
Magnus frowned at that, then laid a hand on Helmut's shoulder. "Can you help him?"
The Vos man looked at his patient as he thought. "We need to remove that bolt, and that won't be pleasant. But if he makes it through this evening, I think he will be just fine. So long as no poison was used, of course."
"We'll take care of it," Magnus said quietly to Caradoc. "We'll find who did this."
"Guild…" Caradoc started to say again, but Magnus hushed him.
"We'll find them," he promised again.
As Magnus left the small, overcrowded room, he pulled Lucius to one side.
"You think it was the Guild?" Lucius asked when they were out of earshot of the others.
"What I am thinking is whether there is a connection between the attack on Caradoc and what happened with you down at the docks." Magnus said, rubbing his chin in thought. "The timing is… too much of a coincidence."
"But if we assume that, then we have to also assume the Guild have new allies in these creatures."
"And that, Lucius, is what really worries me. It is just too incredible to believe. Damn it! We need answers, we cannot carry on operating blind like this. We need to reach out to our contacts outside of the Hands. I have a few ideas on who we can talk to, but it will take time to set things up. You are Turnitia born and bred — do you have anyone on the outside who can help us?"
The image of Adrianna and Forbeck flashed through his mind.
"There may be someone," Lucius said. "I'll see what I can find out."
Standing in the centre of the warehouse that had been used for his training, Lucius eyed the scorch marks on the floor ruefully, the evidence of another session that had ended in failure. He had not been able to practice the steering of the flame globes as much as Forbeck had wished for, and he had been chided for it. The Master of Shadows had insisted he try the exercise himself in his own time, but with the events within the Hands of late, that had not been possible.
A tickling at the back of his mind signalled a presence behind him and he whirled round to see Adrianna stalking out of the shadows, her pace measured and confident.
"Well, your training is having at least some effect I see," she said. "You can now sense the presence of another Shadowmage within, oh, at least twenty yards."
"At least you came."
"It is not often I receive a summons, least of all from you. I was mildly curious."
"I'm glad to see it worked," he said. Lucius had been curious as to Forbeck's ability to sound an alarm in his mind from half way across the city, and had tried to do the same for Adrianna, concentrating on her disdainful face and willing her to him through the threads of power.
"It was faint, but I sensed it. You need improvement."
Her remark was no surprise to Lucius, for he never expected an easy compliment from her.
"As it happens, I wanted to see you as well," she continued.
"Oh?"
"I have a contract, one that may bring us into conflict. By the terms of the Shadowmage charter, I must inform you of this and find a resolution between us."
He rolled his eyes. "Which, I presume, is Shadowmage language for 'stay out of my way'?"
"As you say," she shrugged.
Sighing, Lucius shook his head, then a thought struck him.
"You've been contracted by the Guild of Coin and Enterprise, haven't you?"
"My employers are making some aggressive moves in the city, and you are within their chief target. I recommend you leave the Night Hands and find a more stable contract. Forbeck can help you out there. I might be able to put a word in with my current employers too, if necessary."
"It's not going to be that easy, Aidy," Lucius said, a smile beginning to flicker on his lips. "Your current employers are scum, and I will do everything I can to bring them down."
"I cannot force you to do one thing or another," Adrianna said. "But I would advise you to remember the oath you took."
"I'm not going to attack you, Aidy."
"It is likely that our current employers will force the issue, one way or another."
Adrianna's inhuman attitude was beginning to grate on his nerves once again, and he marvelled at how little time was needed in her presence before anger flared. He briefly wondered whether he was alone in his constant head-butting with her, or if it was common in everyone she met.
"It was the Guild who drew first blood, Aidy," he said, letting himself ride the wave of anger she had sparked. "There was a truce between us, the city had been carved up — there was an agreement."
She shook her head carelessly. "That is not my concern. The accord has been broken, and my specific role is to ensure my employer is victorious in the struggle ahead."
"And your contract is all you care about? There are good men within the Hands, Aidy, they don't deserve this. The Guild is full of cold-blooded killers."
"While the thieves of the Hands are entirely honourable? Don't kid yourself."
"The Hands are not the ones allying themselves to devils from the sea."
That checked her, Lucius saw, and her scorn was replaced by a puzzled expression.
"What do you mean?"
"You're telling me you weren't there at the docks? Yesterday evening?"
Adrianna frowned, and Lucius was at least gratified to see her stumble when someone was accusing her for a change.
"Lucius, I swear to you, I have not been directly involved in any of the Guild's operations around the docks. I know they want to take that territory away from the Hands, and I know they planned an ambush there last night, but I had nothing to do with it. I am contracted for specific… duties, no more."
"It was my operation they ambushed."
She looked him up and down briefly. "You seem to have survived."
"Oh, I did, but many of the men I took with me didn't. Do you have any idea who the Guild is dealing with these days? I'm telling you, they have an alliance with something truly evil."
"I'm sure you are exaggerating."
"Really?" he said, moving onto the attack. "Scales, bulging eyes, webbed claws. Hordes of them, Aidy, coming from the sea to tear us apart — and I mean, tear us apart. They killed most of us within minutes, and damn well nearly got me."
Her next words were slow in coming, as she chose them carefully. "Assuming you are not making this up, I have no idea what you are talking about — truly. That the Guild was planning to disrupt the operations of the Hands on the docks as a prelude to taking them over is all I am aware of. I… I can talk to Master Forbeck, perhaps he knows what you are speaking of."
"Well, that's something," Lucius muttered.
"But if you are right, Lucius, you need to be careful. The Guild is not messing around this time, they want the Hands gone. Smashed, broken, the members either dead, fleeing from the city, or on their side. And they can do it. They have the power and the determination. That is not something you want to be caught in the middle of."
He suppressed a smile. "Well, at least you can spare a thought for me."
Adrianna closed the distance between them in a single long stride and jabbed a finger, painfully, into his chest.
"What I want, Lucius, is for you to go," she said adamantly. "To leave this city, to disappear. What I want to avoid is breaking my oath to the Shadowmages. I will be on the frontline in this fight, and woe betide anyone who stands between me and the completion of the contract."
Spinning on a heel, she stalked away, their meeting clearly at an end.
"Well, just ask yourself this, Aidy," Lucius shouted at her retreating back. "If the Guild are capable enough to hire a Shadowmage when most people haven't even heard of us, who or what else have they employed, eh? Do you even know what you are fighting for? Just which one of us is the mercenary here?"
His voice still echoing through the empty warehouse, Lucius cursed the shadows into which Adrianna had disappeared. He had known he would not find a friend in her stern glare, but had hoped to discover at least an ally.