15. Clash of Stone and Steel
Clash of Stone and Steel
Talyn
Talyn waited until about two in the morning before she attempted her escape.
She’d sharpened her internal clock over the years so she could always tell what time it was, and Samhail’s confirmation that it had been around ten when he’d come to see her helped recalibrate that clock.
She hadn’t been sure if the incursion into her mind had knocked it off kilter, but it still seemed to be working.
A guard had come to check on her around one in the morning, and she’d pretended to be asleep, but no one had come down since. She also hadn’t heard anything to indicate there was a guard on duty, but she still opened the door to her cell as quietly as possible before she crept out.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt her power return the moment she stepped away from the cell, and she ported a few feet just to be sure everything was fine. She looked around the corner to see if there were any guards, but there weren’t.
Talyn went up the stairs quietly to the main level of the basement then ported through the locked door and made her way down the hall. She ascended the stairs to the first floor and, finding the door unlocked, opened it to peek into the house.
The door to the basement was between the kitchen and foyer, and she saw no one as she crept toward the front door.
Under other circumstances she might’ve raided the kitchen for food or looked for weapons, but given who she’d be up against if she was caught, she couldn’t take any chances.
She needed to get as far from here as fast as possible, so she ported out the front door and slipped into the night.
There was no guard immediately outside the door, but Talyn knew from the time she’d been here that guards patrolled the grounds. Luckily, she knew more or less where their rounds took them.
She ported quickly from one concealed spot to another as she headed for the stables.
The one thing she did need was a horse, or she’d never get far enough away by daybreak.
Everything else – food, clothing, money – she could steal when she was far enough away.
Her powers made her a great assassin and spy, but they also made her a competent thief as well.
A small house stood next to the barn, and she imagined that’s where the hands and grooms lived, but no one was around when she slipped into the stables.
She looked in the first stall but immediately moved on.
The size of the giant black warhorse in it told her exactly who it belonged to, and she had no desire to give Samhail any more reason to chase her down than he already had.
A horse that size wasn’t ideal anyway. She needed something small and fast.
Likewise, Talyn left the horse in the stall across from Samhail’s alone as well.
She knew the dappled gray mare was Cyra’s, and although she was sure the horse was fast, stealing it all but guaranteed they’d come after her.
Part of her was hoping they might cut their losses and assume they’d never see her again, although she knew better.
The next horse was a majestic, pure white stallion that she knew instinctively must belong to the lord. She would’ve put money on it that he owned a black horse like Samhail, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
Talyn made her way toward the end of the stables. If she took a horse from the back, maybe it would buy her a little more time before they noticed she was missing.
She found a bay-colored gelding in one of the back stalls that looked like he might be fleet of foot. She opened the door to his stall and started to lead him out when a voice stopped her.
“Hey, who’s there?”
Talyn had made it a point to get to know the stable hands, and she recognized the voice. She was standing on the other side of the horse so he couldn’t see her, and she shifted quickly into one of the other hands.
“It’s just me,” she said, coming out from behind the horse wearing the body of a gangly young man with unruly light brown hair and a slightly crooked nose.
“Ben?” the hand asked. “What are you doing out here? Where are you going with Regent?”
“He was restless,” Talyn answered. “I was going to give him some exercise to tire him out.”
The hand looked at her for a long moment. Too long.
“Maybe we should ask Travis first,” he said, and Talyn heard the unease in his voice.
Nemesis take the man. She’d hoped to avoid hurting anyone.
Talyn didn’t give the man any further chance. She ported behind him and wrapped her arm around his neck to apply pressure to his artery.
It took the young man a second to realize where she’d gone and another second after that to figure out what she was doing.
He wasted three more seconds grabbing at her arm to loosen her hold.
By then, Talyn already had five of the ten seconds she needed to render him unconscious.
She knew by the sixth second his vision was likely going fuzzy, and after the seventh, he’d started to sag against her.
By the eighth second, he was already out, and she lowered his body to the ground.
Now she really had to move fast.
Talyn grabbed some rope, tied the man up, and dragged him into the newly vacated horse stall.
She tore a piece of his shirt off and shoved it in his mouth, then secured the cloth with another piece of rope.
She closed the door to the stall and led the horse, Regent apparently, over to where the tack hung on the wall.
She saddled and bridled him as quickly as she could and led him out of the stable.
She’d have to walk him carefully to the edge of the property and hope none of the guards saw them.
She’d learned once she could port with another person, but it took more out of her, and the larger the person, the more tiring it was. She didn’t think she’d be able to port a horse without knocking herself out.
It turned out to be unnecessary anyway. Talyn made it far enough away from the house that she was out of the guards’ line of sight, and she mounted up.
She didn’t hear an alarm raised, so she turned Regent southwest and spurred him into a gallop.
She had to put as many miles between herself and Tide’s End as she could by morning.
Talyn
Several hours later, Talyn knelt by a stream and cupped some of the cold, clear water into her hands to drink. Next to her, Regent lowered his head and drank as well.
The sun had crested the horizon a couple hours ago and light spilled through the trees of the forest. The stream was a peaceful enough place to stop, and it was covered overhead by the tree canopy.
She’d pushed Regent hard and put a decent amount of distance between her and Tide’s End, but she doubted she was far enough ahead that Samhail or one of the other gargoyles couldn’t still catch up with her.
She’d ridden out in the open to start, but now that the sun was up, she opted for a slower pace in the woods and hoped the tree cover would keep her hidden from anything flying above.
When she’d drunk her fill, Talyn sat down on the large boulder nearby and surveyed the forest around her. Sunlight dappled the ground and gave the place a cheery feeling. It looked like a good place to rest for a few minutes, and she dared to relax for a minute.
Until the shadow of something large passed overhead.
Talyn froze.
No, they couldn’t have found her yet. She’d been moving slower than she would’ve in the open, but not that slow. She’d known someone would find her cell empty when they brought her breakfast, but she’d counted on at least another hour before they had any hope of catching up to her.
How fast did gargoyles fly anyway?
Talyn stood quickly and masqued her features into those of a girl she’d once seen in a tavern. She used the image any time she wanted to blend in with a crowd, since the girl had such plain features.
She tugged on Regent’s reins to get him moving, but he nickered at having his drink interrupted, and her eyes flew up to scan what little sky she could see above the tree cover.
She didn’t move for two whole minutes as her heart thundered in her chest, but when nothing happened, Talyn again pulled the reins and started to lead the horse away.
The beat of leathery wings behind her made her whirl in time to see Samhail’s huge form break through the trees and land hard a few feet from her. Her shriek was only partially for show as she backed away from him.
Of course it was Samhail who’d found her. Of course.
Somehow he looked even bigger than she remembered.
He was wearing simple leather armor and had his two swords sheathed across his back.
His splayed wings cast a shadow over her, and she shrank away from him as she imagined any woman alone in the woods might do.
Her first instinct was to port, but that would give her away immediately.
She had to at least try to pretend she was someone else.
“W-who are you? What are you?” Talyn cried, letting very real fear edge her words. “Please, don’t hurt me!”
Samhail crossed his arms and gave her a look that said she wasn’t fooling anyone.
“Stay back!” she said holding out her hands to ward him off.
“Even if a woman traveling alone in the woods this early in the morning wasn’t suspicious,” he said, “your horse has Bressen’s crest on its saddle.” He ticked his head briefly toward Regent.
Talyn glanced quickly at the saddle and saw he was right.
Gods damn it.
She thought about trying to convince him she was a servant out for a ride, but he wasn’t going to buy it. She sighed and shifted back.
“I thought it would take you longer to find me,” she said. “Do they serve breakfast to prisoners at dawn at the manor?”
“I’m just a fast flyer,” Samhail said. “I also had a feeling you’d choose the tree cover over riding in the open.”
She frowned. “And how did you know I’d do that?”
“Your powers are about subterfuge and concealment,” he said. “I gambled you’d lean toward the familiar. You’re not really an out-in-the-open type of person.”