loosening it up for some
manual labor. He walked casually toward the hole he'd just made in
the mill. He forgot about
me , Ezra realized with sudden clarity.
Swallowing hard, he eased the knife from its sheathe at his side
and silently rose to his feet, creeping toward the man in front of
him. He was just out of reach when the man halted and raised a hand
with two fingers up, just visible over his shoulder. Suddenly, the
air around Ezra solidified, holding him helplessly in
place.
“ Bait,” Arn said, turning his head slightly to the side, “is
meant to be seen and heard, then devoured or spit back out. Next
time, tell those fire-kissed snobs to at least send something
pretty.” The elementalist gave a dismissive gesture and Ezra was
thrown backwards, his knife flying from his hand and out of sight
into the surrounding foliage. He slammed into a tree and fell to
the ground, stars dancing around the image of the man stepping
easily through the hole Mat had left in the mill's wall.
Sounds of a struggle came from inside,
punctuated with dull thumps that sent tremors through the air
followed by screams or quiet curses in Ezra's ear. It went on for
hours. Or minutes. Or maybe seconds. Ezra shook his head, trying to
clear it. Abruptly, the noises inside the mill ceased.
“ Hawkins,” Sarah's voice came through tersely. “Hawkins, get
out of here. Report back to the Guild and get help. We
couldn't-”
The transmission ended with the muted thud
of a heavy blow. Ezra was alone.
Chapter
15
Let's Get Dangerous
Ezra climbed unsteadily to his feet. What
should he do? Go back for help? He had a sinking feeling that any
help he could bring would be far too late for his teammates. He
didn't have enough information. The big building lurked silently in
front of him. There was information in there. They had never
actually said not to go inside the building. Mat and Sarah were
professionals though, actually trained for this kind of thing. He'd
have no chance in there. On the other hand, they had shown
remarkably poor judgment coming up here in the first place. He
clearly couldn't trust their decisions at this point without
consulting them thoroughly or collecting more data. Fortified by
the familiar caress of sound logic, he made his way cautiously and
quietly to the hole in the wall and slipped through.
The inside of the mill was a disaster. The
floor was torn in places, thick support beams bent and broken
everywhere. Sawdust hung heavily in the air and Ezra suppressed a
sneeze, squinting his eyes to peer into the gloom. The floor was a
mess of scuffed footprints in a thin layer of yet more sawdust, the
occasional patch blasted clear by what Ezra could only assume had
been more of the wind-scarred's concussive punches, like the one
that had thrown Mat through the wall. It looked like this was one
elementalist who enjoyed a good brawl.
Creeping quietly through the shadows of the
dim room, Ezra heard subdued voices coming from the rear of the
building. He eased his way toward them, until he could clearly make
out Arn's gravelly rumble.
The boards near the back
wall creaked as the wind-scarred paced slowly back and forth over
them. “I'm gettin' tired of asking you the same thunderin'
question, and you won't like what I come up with when I have to...
amuse myself. Who sent you? Was it Velor? Jonus? Who?!” Another
heavy punch thumped through the room, Mat letting out a grunt as he
took it. “Real hard case huh? Professional. I can respect that. I
got nothin' 'gainst you personal, kid, but you come up here toting
them fancy new Besmirched toys and I get to thinkin that maybe you
was...” He trailed off and stopped pacing. “Those were some pretty toys you
all had, weren't they? Never seen none like 'em before. Was it...
it wasn't... wasn't Val, was it?” Ezra could hear worry creeping
into Arn's voice. “Val said leave, and I left, ain't been no-where
near Eastpoint since. I'm way out here, deep Beloved territory,
just trying
manual labor. He walked casually toward the hole he'd just made in
the mill. He forgot about
me , Ezra realized with sudden clarity.
Swallowing hard, he eased the knife from its sheathe at his side
and silently rose to his feet, creeping toward the man in front of
him. He was just out of reach when the man halted and raised a hand
with two fingers up, just visible over his shoulder. Suddenly, the
air around Ezra solidified, holding him helplessly in
place.
“ Bait,” Arn said, turning his head slightly to the side, “is
meant to be seen and heard, then devoured or spit back out. Next
time, tell those fire-kissed snobs to at least send something
pretty.” The elementalist gave a dismissive gesture and Ezra was
thrown backwards, his knife flying from his hand and out of sight
into the surrounding foliage. He slammed into a tree and fell to
the ground, stars dancing around the image of the man stepping
easily through the hole Mat had left in the mill's wall.
Sounds of a struggle came from inside,
punctuated with dull thumps that sent tremors through the air
followed by screams or quiet curses in Ezra's ear. It went on for
hours. Or minutes. Or maybe seconds. Ezra shook his head, trying to
clear it. Abruptly, the noises inside the mill ceased.
“ Hawkins,” Sarah's voice came through tersely. “Hawkins, get
out of here. Report back to the Guild and get help. We
couldn't-”
The transmission ended with the muted thud
of a heavy blow. Ezra was alone.
Chapter
15
Let's Get Dangerous
Ezra climbed unsteadily to his feet. What
should he do? Go back for help? He had a sinking feeling that any
help he could bring would be far too late for his teammates. He
didn't have enough information. The big building lurked silently in
front of him. There was information in there. They had never
actually said not to go inside the building. Mat and Sarah were
professionals though, actually trained for this kind of thing. He'd
have no chance in there. On the other hand, they had shown
remarkably poor judgment coming up here in the first place. He
clearly couldn't trust their decisions at this point without
consulting them thoroughly or collecting more data. Fortified by
the familiar caress of sound logic, he made his way cautiously and
quietly to the hole in the wall and slipped through.
The inside of the mill was a disaster. The
floor was torn in places, thick support beams bent and broken
everywhere. Sawdust hung heavily in the air and Ezra suppressed a
sneeze, squinting his eyes to peer into the gloom. The floor was a
mess of scuffed footprints in a thin layer of yet more sawdust, the
occasional patch blasted clear by what Ezra could only assume had
been more of the wind-scarred's concussive punches, like the one
that had thrown Mat through the wall. It looked like this was one
elementalist who enjoyed a good brawl.
Creeping quietly through the shadows of the
dim room, Ezra heard subdued voices coming from the rear of the
building. He eased his way toward them, until he could clearly make
out Arn's gravelly rumble.
The boards near the back
wall creaked as the wind-scarred paced slowly back and forth over
them. “I'm gettin' tired of asking you the same thunderin'
question, and you won't like what I come up with when I have to...
amuse myself. Who sent you? Was it Velor? Jonus? Who?!” Another
heavy punch thumped through the room, Mat letting out a grunt as he
took it. “Real hard case huh? Professional. I can respect that. I
got nothin' 'gainst you personal, kid, but you come up here toting
them fancy new Besmirched toys and I get to thinkin that maybe you
was...” He trailed off and stopped pacing. “Those were some pretty toys you
all had, weren't they? Never seen none like 'em before. Was it...
it wasn't... wasn't Val, was it?” Ezra could hear worry creeping
into Arn's voice. “Val said leave, and I left, ain't been no-where
near Eastpoint since. I'm way out here, deep Beloved territory,
just trying
Similar Books
