Throng of Heretics Page 4

  Annette didn’t budge. While riding double was still a hassle, she didn’t even want to move.

  “I don’t want to. Too much bother.”

  When she said that, the cyborg horse had already started forward through the needling rain.

  “Stop for a minute. Every bone in my body is creaking. And my behind is killing me.”

  “Has to be better than dying.”

  The steely voice silenced the mayor’s daughter.

  “The enemy is already closing in. And there are four of them. We’ll ride through the night.”

  Annette shuddered. Earlier, the demons pursuing her had allowed D to pass without lifting a finger to stop him. And that was only right, she thought, having witnessed the greatness that lay within the gorgeous young man, the skilled swordsmanship that’d dispatched Baron Hayden with a single blow. She wanted to laugh in their faces and tell them they could go to Hell. However, the malevolence that crazed their eyes as they looked at D and the ghastly aura that emanated from every inch of them had also been enough to make Annette’s blood run cold. These are Nobles, she knew in her heart of hearts as she clung to D. Though her faith in D was absolute, these assassins weren’t to be taken lightly. And four of them were coming.

  “You’re right—ride on, then.”

  “Oh, ain’t you the smart cookie,” the hoarse voice said, the tone carrying a laughter that infuriated Annette. She promised herself she’d find out the source of it and make it pay.

  As they were coming down the hill, something occurred to her and she had to ask, “They said there were five including the cousins, right? But you cut down one, leaving the other four who were back there. So, how did they manage to shoot down a foe in the sky overhead?”

  There was no answer.

  She figured it probably didn’t matter anyway. No matter how many of them there were, he would cut them down—because this gorgeous young man was clearly that ironbound rule made flesh.

  They reached the bottom of the hill. Giving a light kick to his horse’s belly, D spurred it into a dash.

  Racing through the night, ignoring even the dawn, it was nearly noon when they finally reached the town of Ligatem. A mining town with a population of about a thousand, the high-quality uranium ore excavated there kept the place prosperous.

  “At any rate, we’ve gotta get a room at a hotel, let the girly get some sleep, and procure a horse, eh?” the hoarse voice said.

  “I’ll thank to you make that ‘young lady,’” Annette said with displeasure, but she seemed to have no other complaints.

  As D advanced on his cyborg horse, the bustle along the street died. On noticing his good looks, pedestrians were left breathless. Though one might’ve expected Annette to be disgusted by this, since entering town she’d powdered her face and applied lipstick, sitting up straight and proud to show her good looks off to even better effect. She believed herself to be the cause of the pedestrians’ silence.

  “The girl behind you—seems she’s been fussed over up till now. Still, she is pretty good-looking,” the hand gripping the reins remarked with amusement.

  D replied, “If we could, I’d like to pass right through, but we can’t do that.”

  Unheard by anyone else, this was a conversation between D and his left hand alone.

  “Probably not. She’s putting on a brave face, but the girl’s all tuckered out. You could knock ’er over with a feather. Gotta be tough being a beauty, though. Needs to work on everything besides her looks—what in the blazes?!”

  Not three feet in front of the steed a mass of brown had slammed into the road, then swiftly resolved into a human form. It was a boy who appeared to be about ten years old. Though grimacing and clutching his back, he looked impudently up at the second-story saloon window he’d fallen from.

  “Hold it right there, you little shit!” a man’s voice snarled viciously.

  “The hell I will! That’s what you get for what you did to that girl. And next time, you won’t get off so easily!” the boy fired back, his words flying like bullets from a repeating rifle, and then in the blink of an eye he disappeared into the crowd. In the course of doing so, apparently he bumped into someone, as there was a thud and a cry of “Jerk! What are you doing, staring at a woman like that?!” Further curses rang out, then faded.

  Annette snuck a peek in that direction, but D didn’t even glance at the boy.

  When they arrived at the hotel another fifty yards away, there were angry shouts and a number of footfalls behind them, but D was so expressionless all that seemed like events on another world as he climbed off his cyborg horse, tethered both steeds to the hitching post, and brought Annette into the hotel.

  Parting company with Annette in front of her room, D went back outside. He headed straight for the “bird man.”

  After twisting and turning down numerous alleyways, D was greeted by a small shop with a rather spacious front yard. The sign read: Pigeons, Bugs, Butterflies and More for Messaging.

  What D asked for was a “recon hawk.”

  “Also, the camera has to be able to transmit,” the Hunter said, “and I need you to put some basic armor on it.”

  “In that case, it’ll also need secondary propulsion,” the proprietor replied somewhat dreamily after gazing in rapture at D’s face for more than ten seconds. “All my big models are rented out right now. All that’s left is one bitty one. Got a camera on board, but it’ll barely make a sixty-mile round trip.”

  “Good enough.”

  “Okay, that’ll be an extra five thousand dalas.”

  No sooner had the man finished saying that than the very end of his bulbous nose vanished. He only clutched his nose after bright blood had welled to the surface of a slice no bigger than the tip of his pinky. The scream came even later.

  “This isn’t the first time we’ve had to have attachments put on a recon bird, you know. Thought you’d play us for a sucker, but you thought wrong. Three hundred and fifty dalas should do it, eh?”

  Negotiations be damned, more than shock and fear from having the tip of his nose taken off, it was out of terror at not understanding what’d happened that the shopkeeper nodded. He didn’t have enough faculties left to even notice a dubious change in the customer in black’s tone of voice. He was bowing intensely and repeatedly, like a clockwork automaton, when the door opened and a brown-haired boy stuck his head in.

  “Hey, isn’t that the squirt who—” the left hand murmured.

  The boy shot a quick glance in that direction, but couldn’t discern anything.

  “I’d heard someone had gone into this rip-off master’s shop, mister,” the boy said, and then his mouth fell open. Still, it was admirable the way he suddenly slapped his own cheeks, swiftly returning sanity to both his eyes and expression. “Man, you sure are one handsome cuss.”

  His manly voice carried a feeling of pure admiration. His words were followed by a foul stench. From the look of his tattered shirt and trousers and the way his hair was plastered to his head, he and the bathtub hadn’t been on speaking terms for quite some time now.

  “Boy,” he continued, “wish I’d been born with a face like that, too. Thanks to my mom, I’ve got kinda a pug nose. Well, not much I can do about that. Oh, I’m Pikk. By the way, I wouldn’t do business here if I were you.”

  “D.”

  But before the Hunter could ask the boy why he said that, the shop owner shouted with bulging eyes, “What’d you just say, you little thieving bastard?!” He’d pulled out a towel to cover his nose, but as it was also soaked with blood, it remained a shocking sight. Shifting his eyes from the smirking boy—Pikk—to D, he said, “That little prick’s a well-known troublemaker. Just a snot-nosed brat, but he sasses adults, steals liquor from the bar, helps hookers run off, blackmails and shakes down travelers—if we were to catch him, the mayor’d pay a reward. Don’t you go believing anything that one tells you!”

  “What are you talking about, jerk?” Pikk sneered. “The liquor in the b
ar was leftovers, so I helped myself. The girl from the cathouse’s time was up, but she was being forced to keep working under a bogus contract. And all I ever blackmailed or shook down were stupid rich folks, no matter how much money they had. This here’s the Frontier. Act like that, and you’ll fall prey to bandits the second you step outta town. I taught ’em a lesson about survival. All I was doing was getting paid in return for the service.”

  “Why, you little—”

  The shopkeeper reached for the rifle he had hanging on the wall. The gun brushed his fingers, then vanished.

  “What in the—”

  Setting down the rifle, D said, “So, you said he was a cheat, didn’t you?”

  Pikk gave a quiet, mature nod, saying, “Now, I don’t know what sort of bird you asked for, but this old coot probably told you right now he ain’t got nothing but little ones. So if it’s gonna carry a payload, it’ll need some upgrades. And that’ll cost you extra.”

  The shop owner went white. His nose even stopped bleeding.

  “Why, you little—”

  “Right? I wouldn’t use this place,” Pikk said, grinning at D. “If it’s a recon bird you need, I’ve got a good one. And you can have it for half of what this place usually charges. Naturally, that includes the upgrades.”

  “Don’t you believe that little bastard. Ask anyone. They’ll attest to me running an honest business.”

  “Of course they will. Round these parts, you’re all in on it together. This whole town’s rotten to the core. The merchants are all in cahoots, and they’ve got ties with the sheriff and the town hall. They rip off travelers and the only honest people in town—but they can’t pull a fast one on me. No, I turn the tables on ’em. That’s why they try and run me out.”

  Not even turning to face the shop owner, D said, “The deal is off.”

  “But that kid’s—”

  “—better than the likes of you, it seems.”

  The shop owner turned a stunned gaze to the vicinity of D’s left hip. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a grubby face ducking back out, and the figure in black headed for the door.

  III

  “Make it quick,” D said tersely on exiting the shop.

  Brimming with confidence, the boy nodded vehemently.

  “I hear ya. Just leave it to me.”

  His right hand slipped into his ragged shirt, and out came a great hawk with wings folded. It was of such a size there didn’t seem to be any way the boy could’ve kept it concealed. Its wingspan alone was easily wider than Pikk was tall.

  “You a cyborg?” said the hoarse voice. “Your stomach kept its functionality, but got a dimensional pocket that lets it double as storage—that’s a pretty tricky operation!”

  “I had a really good doctor,” Pikk laughed. His white teeth gleamed like precious stones in his sunburnt face. “Pay enough and there’s nothing he wouldn’t do. Mine’s for stashing hot merchandise, but he did all kinds of operations on some folks. He was so busy, he just keeled over a couple months back. Couldn’t even spare enough time to work on himself. Well, Mister D, it’s just verbal, but we’ve got ourselves a contract, don’t we?”

  “I want to ask you something.”

  Putting away the hawk he’d been holding out, Pikk replied, “What’s that?”

  “Why only half price? I doubt you’re that service oriented.”

  “The truth is—” The mature expression once more became that of a ten-year-old. A look of naivety unimaginable after his earlier words and deeds came to rest on the boy’s face. “I’ll tell ya later.”

  “Then no deal.”

  “No way—I said half price! Tell you what, I’ll settle for a third. How about it?”

  “Why the fire sale?”

  The boy was cornered by the steely voice. “Ease up,” he said. “You’re embarrassing me.”

  The boy laughed, but he realized he wouldn’t be able to fool this one. He was out of his league. Averting his gaze from D, he rubbed one hand along the side of his nose. After two shakes of his head, he finally continued, “Earlier, you had a girl riding behind you, right? I was wondering—would you introduce me to her?”

  D was expressionless.

  His left hand groaned, “Whaaaaat?!” and sputtered out a laugh. “I’ve heard of pearls before swine and blood from a stone, but this is a shocker. Beauty and the brat? Oh, that’s rich. Hey, D, let’s make his wish come true. Heh heh he—eerrrrrgh!”

  Left hand still clenched tightly, the Hunter said, “I’ll pay the going rate for the hawk. Forget the other part.”

  “No way,” Pikk shot back, scrutinizing D. No, actually glaring at him. But the challenge instantly melted from his eyes, easily settling the match. Still, the fight hadn’t left the boy entirely. “I don’t care how handsome you are,” he said, “don’t be so full of yourself. Th-th-there’s more to a man than just his face!”

  D silently gazed at the youthful face, which was now the very picture of truculence.

  Pikk froze. They were in different leagues—too different.

  “Okay,” D said.

  His left fist weakly exclaimed, “What?!”

  The boy was speechless. Lowering his hands and spreading them wide, the boy let his jaw drop as he stared at D.

  “What’s wrong?” D asked, but as the boy remained as his was, the Hunter clapped him lightly on the shoulder.

  Suddenly Pikk had a blank look on his face, and his eyes were swimming in his head. Apparently he’d been so surprised, he’d nearly fainted.

  “It seemed that caught you off-guard. Did you think I’d refuse?”

  “Huh? Yeah. I mean—shut up! One look at me, and she’ll learn the appeal of a real man. You’re gonna regret introducing her to me till your dying day!”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  It was rare for D to play along with anyone for so long—in fact, it was nearly miraculous. The fact that his left hand held its tongue was proof of that.

  Maybe he was just working up his fight, but Pikk bared his teeth and growled, then gnashed them repeatedly.

  “Okay, let’s go, then,” the boy said, turning in the direction of the hotel.

  Catching him by the collar and hauling him back, D said, “First, launch that hawk for me. Got a camera and armor?”

  “Right here. Just leave it to me.”

  From the vicinity of his solar plexus Pikk then produced a miniature video camera and basic armor for the bird. The camera was equipped with mounting hardware.

  “You’re well prepared, aren’t you?”

  “Well, I get a lot of call for this. So, what area did you wanna shoot?”

  “The ground between Salval Pass and the town. If it spots a foursome, have it follow them for a while and then come back.”

  “Sounds interesting,” Pikk said, his eyes alight with curiosity. “Are you two being chased? If you are, hire me! I may not look it, but I pride myself on being pretty good with weapons. Hell, I’m a million times better than the third-rate Hunters in these parts!”

  “Get it in the air.”

  “Oh, right. First, the business at hand.”

  In less than ten seconds Pikk had the armor on the hawk and the camera mounted. On seeing how deft the boy was, the left hand murmured, “Kid knows his stuff.”

  After watching the bird wing its way skyward shortly thereafter, D then paid the boy.

  “Well, just about time for the big event!” the boy said, jubilantly rubbing his hands together.

  “Sure you’re dressed for it?” D inquired.

  “Eh? You mean something’s wrong with what I got on?”

  “Of course so,” said the hoarse voice. “It’s bad enough you’re in rags, but you stink to high heaven too.”

  “Now that you mention it, I haven’t had me a shower in a while. But that’s all right. There’s more to a man than the way he sme—” the boy was saying, ready to march on triumphantly when he was once again snagged and dragged back.

  “Isn’t
there an establishment around here that could take care of that?” asked D.

  “There’s a spa for women. They’re okay with guy customers, too—but I’ll have none of that. I want the little lady to see me just as I am.”

  Somewhere, someone guffawed.

  “Have it your way,” D said. “But I’ll have to stay there when you see her.”

  “Huh?!”

  “After all, she’s had a sheltered upbringing,” said the hoarse voice. “Can’t have a punk like you from gods-know-where getting too close to her, now, can we?”

  “To hell with that, asshole. That tears it. I positively ain’t taking no stinking bath. I’ll see her as I am. It’s like this—it’ll be a test to see if the little lady is any judge of men.”

  The boy wanted to glower at the source of another guffaw, but all he saw was the Hunter’s left hand.

  “You might have a weird little trick there, but you won’t be making a fool of me for long, D. Just you wait and see if I don’t have the little lady patting me on the head.”

  And as the boy stormed away indignantly, behind him there was an explosion of laughter as well as D’s voice.

  “Annette is resting now. Stop by the hotel in about three hours.”

  Annette was in a horrible mood. Though she needed at least seven hours of sleep a day to keep from being a total wreck, D had woken her in the middle of it. She knew that not even four hours had passed, and to top everything off she’d been told some boy she didn’t know wanted to meet her. Listening to the story, she learned that it was in exchange for letting them have the recon bird for a third of the going rate.

  “What’s that got to do with me?!” Annette fumed.

  She had a point.

  D responded by saying, “If you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

  That wasn’t a threat. He meant it literally.

  When that cold gaze fell on her, even before she could be mesmerized, a chill seeped from the marrow of her bones, spreading through her body like exhaustion and causing Annette to shake her head from side to side.

  “All right,” she said. “But I’ll only talk with him for five minutes in the lounge downstairs—okay?”