"If they"re any kind of humans, we"ll kill "em," Alfray informed him matter-of-factly.
As the two groups drew nearer, the orcs identified the race in the wagons.
"Gnomes," Alfray said.
"Could be worse, sir. They fight like baby rabbits."
"Yes, and they tend to keep themselves to themselves."
"They"re only ever a problem if anybody takes an interest in their h.o.a.rds. And I seem to remember their magic has to do with finding underground gold seams, so that shouldn"t be a problem."
"If there"s any talking to be done, leave it to me." Alfray turned and barked an order to the column. "Maintain order in ranks. No weapons to be drawn unless necessary. Let"s just take this easy, shall we?"
"Do you think they"d know about the band having a price on its head?" Kestix wondered.
"Maybe. But as you said, they"re not usually fighters. Unless bad manners and foul breath count as weapons."
The lead wagon was now a short stone"s lob from the head of Alfray"s column. There were two gnomes on the riding board. A couple more stood behind them, in the wagon proper. Whatever load the wagon carried was covered by a white tarpaulin.
Alfray threw up a hand and halted the column. The wagons stopped. For a moment, the two groups stared at each other.
Some held that gnomes looked like dwarves with deformities. They were small in stature and disproportionately muscular. They had big hands, big feet and big noses. They sported white beards and bushy white eyebrows. Their clothing was no-nonsense coa.r.s.e jerkins and trews in uninspiring colours. Some had cowls, others soft caps with hanging bobs.
All gnomes appeared incredibly old, even when new-born. All had made an art of scowling.
After a moment"s silence, the driver of the lead wagon announced testily, "Well,I ain"t moving!"
Further back, stony-faced wagoneers stood to watch.
"Why should we clear the road?" Alfray said.
"h.o.a.rd?h.o.a.rd?" the driver fog-horned. "We ain"t got no h.o.a.rd!"
"Just our luck to get one hard of hearing," Alfray grumbled. "Noth.o.a.rd," he enunciated slow, loud and clear,"road!"
"What about it?"
"Are you going to shift?" Alfray shouted.
The gnome thought about it. "Nope."
Alfray decided to take a more conversational, less disputatious tack. "Where you from?" he asked.
"Ain"t saying," the gnome replied sourly.
"Where you heading?"
"None of your business."
"Then can you say if the way to Drogan is clear? Of any humans, that is."
"Might be. Might not. What"s it worth?"
Alfray remembered that gnomes were notorious for knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing. Good road courtesy, for instance.
He gave in. At his order, the column urged their horses up the sides of the gully and let the gnomes through.
As the lead wagon pa.s.sed, its poker-faced driver mumbled, "This place is getting too d.a.m.n crowded for my liking."
Watching them rumble away, Alfray tried jesting about the incident. "Well, we made short shrift of them," he stated ironically.
"That we did," Kestix said. "Er . . . Corporal?"
"Yes, Private?"
"Where exactly do shrifts come from?"Alfray sighed. "Let"s get on, shall we?"
10.
Coilla had never spent so much time in the company of humans before. In fact most of her previous experience had to do with killing them.
But being with the bounty hunters for several days made her more aware than ever of their otherworldliness. She had always viewed them as strange, alien creatures, as rapacious interlopers with insatiable ap-pet.i.tes for destruction. Now she saw the nuances that underlined the differences between them and the elder races. The way they looked, the way their minds worked, the way they smelt; in so many ways humans wereweird.
She put the thought aside as they reached the crest of a hill over-looking Hecklowe.
It was dusk, and lights were beginning to dot the freeport. Distance and elevation made it possible to see that the place hadn"t so much been planned as simply had happened. As befitted a town where all races met on an equal footing, Hecklowe consisted of a jumble of structures in every conceivable architectural style. Tall buildings, squat buildings, towers, domes, arches and spires cut the skyline. They were made from wood and stone, brick and wattle, thatch and slate. Beyond the town"s far edge the grey sea could just be made out in the fading light. Masts of taller ships poked up over the rooftops.
Even from so far away a faint din could be heard.
Lekmann stared down at the port. "It"s a while since I been here, but nothing"s changed, I reckon. Hecklowe"s permanent neutral ground. Don"t matter how much you hate a race, in there it"s a truce. No brawl-ing, no fights. No settling of scores in a lethal way."
"They kill you for that, don"t they?" Blaan said.
"If they catch you."
"Don"t they search for weapons on the way in?" Aulay asked.
"Nah. They leave it to you to give "em up. Searching ain"t practical no more since Hecklowe became such a popular place. But if you"re fighting in there, it"s summary execution by the Watchers. Not that they"re as lively as they used to be. They can still do for you, though, so be careful of "em."
Coilla spoke out. "The Watchers don"t work properly because your kind"s bleeding the magic."
"Magic," Lekmann sneered. "You sub-humans and your f.u.c.king magic. Know what I think? I think it"s all horse s.h.i.t."
"You"re surrounded by it. You just can"t see it."
"That"s enough!"
"If we find them orcs there"s gonna be fighting, ain"t there?" Blaan said.
"I"m thinking we"re just going to stay on their tails until they come out, then move. If we have to face "em inside, well, we"re used to slipping a blade into somebody"s ribs on the quiet."
"That sounds like your style," Coilla remarked.
"I told you to shut your face."
Aulay was unconvinced. "This ain"t much of a plan, Micah."
"We work with what we got, Greever. Can you think of another way?"
"No."
"No, you can"t. Be like Jabeez here, and leave the thinking ch.o.r.es to me. All right?"
"Right, Micah."
Lekmann turned to Coilla. "As for you, you"ll behave down there and hold your tongue. "Les" you want to lose it. Got that?"
She gave him an icy stare.
"Micah," Blaan said.
Lekmann sighed."Yes?"
"Hecklowe"s where all the races can go, right?"
"That"s right."
"So there could be orcs there."
"I"m banking on it, Jabeez. That"s why we"re here, remember?" His synthetic patience was wearing thin.
"So if we see orcs, how do we know if they"re the ones we"re looking for?"
Aulay grinned, displaying rotting teeth. "He"s got a point, Micah."
Lekmann obviously hadn"t thought that aspect through. Finally he jabbed a thumb at Coilla. "She"ll point them out for us."
"Like h.e.l.l I will."
He leered menacingly at her. "We"ll see about that."
"So what do we do about weapons?" Aulay said.
"We"ll hand in our swords at the gates, but keep a little something in reserve."
He took a knife from his belt and slipped it into his boot. Blaan and Aulay did the same, only Aulay hid two knives-a dagger in one boot, a thrower in the other.
"When we get down there you"ll say nothing," Lekmann repeated to Coilla. "You ain"t our prisoner, you"re just with us.
Got it?"
"You know I"m going to kill you for this, don"t you?" she replied evenly.
He tried to laugh that off. But he"d looked into her eyes and his performance was unconvincing. "Let"s go," he said, spurring his horse.They rode down to Hecklowe.
Near the gates, Aulay cut Coilla"s bonds and whispered to her. "Try to run and you get a blade in your a.r.s.e."
There was a small multiracial crowd at the gates, on foot and mounted, and a queue moving past a checkpoint where weapons were being handed in. The bounty hunters and Coilla got in line, and reached the checkpoint before they saw their first Watchers.
They were bipedal, but that was about as much resemblance as they had to flesh and blood creatures. Their bodies were solidly built and seemed to consist of a variety of metals. The arms, legs and barrel chests looked something like iron. Bands of burnished copper ran around their wrists and ankles. Another, wider band girdled their waists, and it could have been beaten gold. Where there were joints, at elbows, knees and fingers, silver rivets glistened.
Their heads were fashioned from a substance akin to steel and were almost completely round. They had large red gems for some kind of eyes, punched hole "noses" and a slot of a mouth with sharpened metal teeth. On either side of their heads depressed openings acted as ears.
They were of uniform height, standing taller than any of the bounty hunters, and despite the nature of their bodies they moved with surpris-ing suppleness. Yet they did not entirely mimic the motions of an or-ganic lifeform, being given to occasional ungainliness and a tendency to lumber.
Their appearance could only be described as startling.
The humans placed their weapons in a Watcher"s outstretched arms and it moved off with them to a fortified gatehouse.
"Homunculi," Coilla mouthed. "Created by sorcery."
Aulay and Blaan exchanged awed glances. Lekmann tried to look casual.
Another Watcher arrived and dropped three wooden tags into Lek-mann"s palm by way of receipts. Then it waved them into the town.
Lekmann pa.s.sed out the tags as they walked. "See, told you it was no problem getting a few blades in."
Stuffing his tag into a pocket, Aulay commented, "I thought they might have been a bit more thorough."
"I reckon the so-called Council of Magicians running this place is losing its grip. But if they ain"t competent that"s good news for us."
They made their way into the bustling streets, leading their horses and carefully keeping Coilla boxed in. Aulay saw to it that he covered her back, the better to deliver his threat.
Hecklowe swarmed with elder races. Gremlins, pixies and dwarves talked, argued, bargained and occasionally laughed together. Little groups of kobolds weaved through the crowd, chattering among them-selves in their own unintelligible language. A line of stern-faced gnomes, pickaxes over shoulders, went purposefully about their busi-ness. Trolls wearing hoods as protection against the light were led by hired elf guides. Centaurs clopped along the cobbled roads, proudly aloof in the throng. There were even a few humans, though it was noticeable that they were less often to be seen mixing with other races.
"What now, Micah?" Aulay asked.
"We find an inn and work out our strategy."
Blaan beamed. "Ale, good!"
"This ain"t no time to be getting all unnecessary, Jabeez," Lekmann warned him. "We need clear heads for what has to be done. Got it?"