She should never have trusted anything important to her sister.
Sylena always had extra motives apart from serving her country and adding money to the family coffers. Thanks to her sister’s foolishness, Rajana now wasn’t entirely sure she could do either herself.
Certainly it would be a trick getting her hands on the treasure she was owed by her agreement with the Icehand, for she no more trusted the woman than the Icehand trusted her. Of course, the most important thing was keeping the money from Sargava’s government.
She had two things in her favor. First was the cool weather, so different from the blasting heat typical of Sargava. The conditions almost rendered the journey pleasant. The other was careful preparation. That morning she’d wisely readied two scrying spells, and had used them to great effect over the course of their trip. With her last she determined that the lizard man rested in a stone tower. With that information, she and the Icehand’s captain, Karvak, had narrowed the possibilities down to one of the structures in a ruined native fortress.
Thinking the main approach to the ruins would undoubtedly be watched, Karvak led them to a back trail too steep for the horses.
Karvak seemed a good man to have on her side, at least for now. All the same, she still had her teleportation scroll tucked up one sleeve, and expected to use it soon.
Four soldiers were left below with the animals. Rajana hated to leave her mount, for hidden in her saddle gear was the extradimensional bag with all of those lizardfolk book cones and the pack of gems and statuary her sister hadn’t managed to lose.
One way or another, she planned to put her hands to all of the treasure at the same time, then use the scroll to vanish away to Cheliax. Leaving any of the treasure aboard her ship would have just about guaranteed its loss, for the Icehand moved quickly. Possibly the ship was already being searched.
Once they reached the narrow plateau, Karvak halted and stared at the outline of the fortress looming against the sky a half mile north. He split his forces into two groups and then led them forward. She asked him about the wisdom of attacking in full darkness, but he only tapped an amulet engraved with an owl. “I can see in the darkness pretty damned clear.”
Karvak and his guards moved carefully through the mix of low foliage. There were occasional clusters of palm trees and, more rarely, lines of stone from some edifice older even than the ruined fortress. Rajana scanned the distance, and the moon hanging a lance-length higher than the ruin’s longest tusk. She saw no one, but that meant nothing.
Rajana didn’t hope for complete surprise, or even desire it. It would be far simpler to escape with the treasures if Mirian Raas and her expedition thinned out the soldiers. Unfortunately, Karvak’s people seemed as skilled as he, and they made only an occasional sound as they threaded their way through the terrain. Could a good sentry see their movement, or the occasional shift of plant life as they pushed it aside?
Maybe not.
She told Karvak she must stop to ready a spell, and the captain warned her not to delay long. Rajana waited only until the men had their backs turned, then pushed against a young palm tree so that its trunk swayed. She pushed it twice more before moving forward. Two of the guards looked back at her as she stumbled deliberately against a jeerenberry bush. This produced only a little noise, but more movement.
Sylena picked herself and muttered embarrassed thanks as one of the men helped her to her feet. Her faint smile was genuine. If there were sentries looking this direction, they couldn’t possibly have missed what she’d done.
Bit by bit, they closed upon the partly collapsed wall of the fortress. Rajana peered at its four towers and wondered which housed the sleeping lizard man.
As they drew closer, one shape proved not to be a hill or cluster of trees, but a ruined building, still partly roofed. Karvak sent half his force to look it over and advanced with Rajana and the rest toward the silent towers.
A thunder lizard trumpeted a challenge from their left.
Rajana had heard the beast call in the arena, and this one sounded nearly as close. She jumped in surprise as the guards pulled at their weapons.
Rajana cast her invisibility spell and vanished.
The beast roared again. The three men in the vanguard broke and ran, even as Karvak shouted to hold position. She could see the moonlight silver their fear-stricken faces as they raced back the way they’d come.
A scream rose from the east. She whirled to see a man whose chest armor bubbled in a sizzling green circle. “Help me!”
A green bolt raced out of the darkness and took another soldier in the helmet. She dropped, crying out in terrible pain.
Mirian Raas must lie nearby with her acid wand.
“It’s some kind of trick,” Karvak shouted, then looked in vain for Rajana. “Cursed witch! Where did you go?”
Smiling to herself, Rajana stepped away even as a lizard man erupted from the foliage and brought a blade crashing down on another of Karvak’s guards.
Beautiful, she thought. She left the two groups to whittle each other down and went to find her treasure.