The Halo Of Vakh (BOOK 1)

ONE FOR THE MONEY, TWO FOR THE SHOW

For a week it rained over Pyropa. The showers descended upon the city in merciless torrents, bashing against windows and doors. The wind howled into homes, spraying a light layer into the air. Curtains flapped in the doors and thunder sounded overhead, lightning splitting the darkened sky in half. Sapphire, Rueen and James remained hidden throughout. Their host, a kind-hearted, dark-skinned woman kept them updated.

The search had stopped. But the number of soldiers parading through the streets made her nervous. One wrong move, and they would be discovered and sent to the capital. Heavens knew what would happen to them. Maybe they would be sent to The Mead as slaves or perhaps killed on the spot. She shuddered. She stared at the moon as it came out from behind the clouds but faded away again behind the darkness of the racing clouds.

For a week and a half, they had been stranded in the one room house with nothing to do but eat, sleep, drink and stare at each other. They dare not discuss any plans in the presence of Pirne, their host. She might be one with the smuggling business but that was only as long as they had paid. The three had spent a quarter of their savings to be helped. They did not want to risk anything, not when they had come so far.

Her eyes trailed over the sleeping form of Rueen and James. Sleep evaded her. She had tried quite a few times only to close her eyes and let rest take her way and failed beautifully. After tossing and turning in her bedroll, she had got up and settled herself on the windowsill to stare at the stormy night. Despite the wind, there was a lingering humidity in the air.

The landscape remained barren of any movement except the water droplets that splashed on the ground below, the water in the puddles jumping like excited children. She sighed and let her elbows settle on the window sill, staring into the dark and letting her mind wander. She observed a tree here and a house there. She snickered at a cloud that looked particularly like one of her father's hats. A house that seemed like a man with a stick on his shoulder. The stick moved and Sapphire froze.

She squinted, trying to look clearly through the dark and the haze of the rain. Someone stood there for a moment till they disappeared against the shadow of the house, reappearing on the road. They had jumped. She saw them walking across the road and to the other side, moving stealthily as if not wanting to be seen. Sapphire frowned. Keeping her eyes on the figure, she wrapped a scarf around her head, and stuck two of her daggers into her boots. She flicked her eyes over to her sleeping companions. She didn't need to wake them. She'd be back soon enough. With soft footsteps, she walked to the door and opened the latch. The door creaked slightly as she opened it as quickly as she could; it always made less noise if it was opened faster. Rueen stirred slightly but went back to sleep.

Sapphire rushed out, her instincts as a huntress kicked in and she followed the shadow in the distance. She was soaked within minutes. The raindrops stung her face as she ran, avoiding the puddles of water collected in the craters along the road. The shadow headed into the main city and this time Sapphire had to sneak into small niches to make sure she wasn't discovered. She didn't see many guards around; the ones who remained on the streets had wrapped their cloaks around them, some of them desperately trying to shelter their armour from the haven's assault. Sapphire smirked. She'd love their armour to get rusted. More trouble for them.

In the distance, she could hear the sea roar in the thunderstorm. A cloud growled overhead and the rain became impossibly heavier. Sapphire was completely drenched and she wanted nothing more than to change the clothes sticking to her form. She hated it when that happened.

Whoever she was following went deeper into the city and Sapphire could feel the apprehension dawning on her. She pushed it away. It resurfaced ten folds when the citadel came into her view. The walls appeared a light grey in the gloom and Sapphire wanted to be around that very moment. Her curiosity got the better of her. Whoever she was following had made all efforts to remain hidden from the guards. Whoever it was did not want to be caught. Even now, he circled around the outer walls and remained completely out of the sight range of the guards at the main gate. Sapphire trailed behind.