Westhaven by Rowan Erlking (best sci fi novels of all time TXT) 📕

With a predatory pounce, the Cordril heaved up his sword to stab the old general in the heart. However, though he was old, Gailert dodged enough to get back inside his home to grab for another weapon.

The Cordril’s sword struck the doorjamb. That gave Gailert more time before the demon could dislodge it and go after him.

Saimon walked into the front room from the back carrying a tray. He stared as Gailert scrambled through the front room, looking left then right before darting into the study.

The Cordril charged after, slashing the porter on instinct. The porter toppled down with his trays of tea and jam, gasping. The white demon pushed off the wall and followed the general into the study.

Gailert reached for the one weapon he knew he had left. No loading. No need. The sword had been waiting for the moment to prove its strength. Snatching the unfinished Bekir sword off the wall where it had been on display for the past eleven years, Gailert turned around just in time to block the demon’s sword.

“Oh, ho!” The Cordril shouted with a lustful laugh, hopping back. “So, you are a swordsman too, eh? You don’t look down on the art. How refreshing!”

Glancing into the hall, Gailert could see that Saimon had crawled back into the kitchen. He only hoped that his porter’s wound had been shallow. This demon was not going to stop until they were all dead. He knew it. And unfortunately, Gailert could feel all his aching joints creak as a sign that he was no match for this demon in his prime.

“Wait a second. I know your face,” the Cordril said, lifting his chin. He snorted with amusement as he shifted the grip on his sword for the kill. “The infamous General Gole. Gailert Winstrong.”

Gailert blinked then lifted his sword higher. “So I wasn’t your main target.”

Laughing, the Cordril snorted again. “Me, care about a brown-eye? No. But I really ought to kill you since you tried to kill me.”

He pointed his sword at Gailert’s chest. Gailert prepared for the killing blow, gripping his sword tighter. The Cordril swung. He blocked.

As the swords clanged, they both heard the Cordril’s blade crack. Then it split, followed by a loud clatter.

“Crap!” The Cordril tossed his sword to the side. The entire top had fallen off. He looked up at Gailert then at his sword, irritably huffing. “Lucky you. That blade saved your life.”

The Cordril marched out the door.

“Wait! I’ll kill you!” Gailert raised his sword, getting up.

“You’re old, man. And that sword isn’t even sharp.” The Cordril snorted once more, looking down on the formerly powerful general. “I guess it is destiny that he be the one to kill you after all. His swords always seem to be getting in my way.”

Following him through his home, Gailert watched the Cordril jog out onto the street, sword-less yet still dangerous. The general shouted after him. “Who?”

Looking back with a grin the Cordril said, “Key. He wants to kill you himself. You killed his father.”

Then jogging off on his long legs, the demon was soon gone.

Key?

Gailert shuddered. He had known that man tossed to them in the valley near Wingsley could not have been Key. Unfortunately so many years had passed that by now the boy was undoubtedly a man going by an alias. Yet if Key wanted him dead, how come he was waiting so long?

Already the sirens for the police and paramedics were ringing in the street. It was the ironic background music that now confirmed Gailert’s suspicions that his people were indeed standing in nothing more than the calm before the storm.

*

“You took the train here?” Their contact in Wimanus stared at Key, Loid, and Tiler as Callen carried their bags from the train station dressed as a porter. None of them looked like their usual selves. Loid was leading the group dressed in the clothing of an important family from the town of Kolden. His goatee and mustache were properly brushed out, trimmed, and oiled. They had traded for the Kolden clothing from an ally in that town in exchange for a few Bekir Smith swords. Key walked with Loid, shaved-headed, along with Tiler who had also had his head shaved to match Key. Together they appeared to be nothing more than bodyguards to an aristocrat.

“Of course.” Loid spoke for them all, giving off an air of smugness, as the man ought if acting the part of an aristocrat. “It was much more convenient than renting an automobile. I hope my business partners are ready to meet me at the inn.”

Nodding, though weary for all the acting, their Wimanus contact said with a glance at Key, “Yes. They are also eager to speak with you.”

“Good.” Loid nodded to Callen to hail a taxi. They had been at the train station for two hours pretending to be annoyed that their contact had not already come and done so.

The town of Wimanus was old style human construction, mostly wood with cobblestone roads, no fences, and plenty of decorated awnings with demon wards on top. Jingling gole wards hung at every street corner. The only thing that showed the Sky Children were in control of the town was the sheer number of them walking in the streets. Most of them were soldiers, though a good number were merchants and landowners. Key noted it with a slight frown.

“Arrange for a dinner in a private room once we get there,” Loid said to Tiler who bowed obediently.

They hailed a taxi, entered it and rode to the inn. Each man acted according to their roles as if they had been born in them, giving complete deference to Loid as they entered the inn. Tiler arranged the room for their dinner as ordered; though in normal circumstances Tiler preferred to argue with Loid, since he was still not quite happy with Key’s closer relationship with his old friend. Key unpacked some of Loid’s belongings in his “master’s” room while Callen carried the rest of the luggage to their joint room for servants. There, Callen hid their weapons underneath the mattresses of their beds, though Key and Tiler both wore short swords of Kolden style, setting themselves apart as Loid’s bodyguards. It was practically indiscernible from the real thing, especially under the eyes of the Sky Child military. And while they did all these things, Loid entered the inn’s lounge where all the aristocrats loitered, chatting about the affairs of life and how they were masters of the world. The majority of them were Sky Children.

“So, human, where are you from?” a blue-eyed merchant asked, nodding smugly to Loid.

Loid held a refined air as he turned his head to gaze coldly on the demon. He bit back his tongue, as any human aristocrat would have done in that circumstance. No one got away with sassing a Sky Child; slave, merchant or aristocrat. “Kolden. Are you here on business?”

The Sky Child snorted and waved Loid over to his table. “Mostly, though I am also here for pleasure. Do you gamble?”

Loid who was playing the foppish aristocrat, gave a small smile and said, “Of course.”

But then Key walked in, whispered into Loid’s ear. Loid nodded back, hiding his relief. He then turned to the blue eye and bowed. “I’m sorry. My party just arrived. Maybe later tonight.”

He departed without another word, with Key following. Not long into the hallway apart from the lounge Loid exhaled with relief, glancing to Key.

“Thank you. Were you watching?” Loid patted Key on the shoulder.

Key smirked, though he checked to make sure no one was watching. “I told you not to make eye contact. He’s going to ask you again if you see him. They’ll cheat. Touch your hand or something to read your cards. We can’t afford to spoil our plans right now.”

Nodding, Loid walked with him towards the private dining rooms.

Tiler emerged from a doorway then waved them inside. “They’re not here yet.”

“When they arrive, I hope they’ll be subtle.” Key glanced back at the main entrance.

“Callen will keep watch,” Loid said, going in.

Pressing his lips together, Key peered down the hall again. “I’ll think I’ll wait out here.”

“And draw attention to yourself? That won’t be good.” Loid pulled on his arm. “Come on. That’s not like you to linger in open places where people can see you.”

However Key shook his head, thinking on it. “No. But I don’t think anyone would recognize me up in this area. Besides, I think I ought to keep an eye on those gamblers. They seemed too interested in you.”

Loid blinked. “Too interested?”

Nodding, Key said, “They might have done business in Kolden. I think they’ll try to pry over who you are. Kolden is not exactly a hospitable place. Loyalties aren’t clear there.”

Nodding, Loid frowned. “Alright. Signal us if there is trouble.”

“You can count on it.” Key turned and walked back down the hall.

In truth, he was feeling completely uneasy about those men. Dozens of times in the past he had seen General Winstrong chatting in lounges like that. Loid should not have paused there even if it was something a Kolden man would have done. There were too many blue-eyes in town for it to be merely a coincidence. The Sky Children were also looking for those from Sundri. Therefore, since the moment they arrived Key had been prepared for a fight in case they were recognized.

Key waited in the foyer for over two hours as a loyal guard to an aristocrat would. That actually made the Sky Children merchants settle some. They cast him stares, but Key did not look back or even speak to them when they spoke to him. During the course of the hours a few had been in his face and one dared touch his hand, but that metal probing received such a nasty load of emotional ferocity that the Sky Child automatically jerked back. Only then did Key glare at him. The blue-eye had stared at Key, backed off, and then walked away. Important people came and went, but Key did not look up again until he saw the faces of Lanona Loe and Lady Renna, the patriarch of Sundri’s wife. He bowed to them at once.

“My master has been waiting long for you,” he said.

They gave light curtseys back, turning without looking at anyone in the room. The eyes of the Sky Children were on them, but they paid them no mind. The merchant in particular glared hard at Key with repugnance that Key had dissuaded his master from gambling what could have been a fortune in his pocket.

Going down the hall, Key led their guests appropriately, even until they entered the private dining hall and closed the door. The moment it did all pretense dropped, and Key drew in a deeper breath. “Lady Renna, where is your husband?”

The wife of the Sundri patriarch hung her head, looking up at him with shame-filled eyes. “I am sorry. He is in hiding. Not because he had heard you are angry with him for not completely fulfilling the words of his promise, but that he is being hunted right now. The Sky Child authorities discovered that he was behind the uprising in Sundri. They want his head.”

“That is a lame excuse,” Key said, not sitting down. “And I’m not accepting it either. However, he is not the reason I am here. I have been sent by Lady Sadena to claim your wizard for a job in Calcumum.”

“A job?” Lanona the wizard repeated, glancing to Lady Renna. “What kind of job?”

Nodding to her, Key took a seat at last. He leaned forward just so he could speak to her. “It is the same thing you did in Wingsley, only on a larger scale. We need you to build up a large tunnel system underneath Calcumum City.”

Lanona suddenly looked tired and she glanced at her lady again as a daughter would to a mother. “Tunnels? Again? Do you know how tiring it is to