night, no matter how legal their intentions. Sarene would have used someone else to make the delivery, but Hoid and his men already knew how and where to deposit the boxes. Besides, she would rather the populace of Arelon not discover what was in this particular shipment.
'These boxes are more heavy than the ones before. my lady,' Hoid noted astutely. There was a reason he had managed to survive a decade on the streets of Kae without being caught.
'What the boxes contain is none of your business,' Sarene replied, handing him a pouch of coins.
Hoid nodded, his face hidden in the darkness of his hood. Sarene had never seen his face. but she assumed from his voice that he was an older man.
She shivered in the night, eager to get back to Kiin's house. The wedding was set for the next day, and Sarene had a hard time containing her excitement. Despite all the trials, difficulties, and setbacks, there was finally an honorable king on the throne of Arelon. And, after years of waiting, Sarene had finally found someone her heart was as willing to marry as her mind.
'Goodnight then. my lady,' Hoid said. following the train of beggars who slowly climbed the stairs of Elantris's wall.
Sarene nodded to Ashe. 'Go tell them that a shipment is coming, Ashe.' 'Yes, my lady.' Ashe said with a bob. and hovered away to follow Hoid's beggars.
Pulling her shawl close, Sarene climbed into her carriage and ordered the coachman home. Hopefully, Galladon and Karata would understand why she had sent crates full of swords and bows. Raoden's apprehensive warning earlier in the day had disturbed Sarene immensely. She kept worrying about New Elantris and its bright. accepting people. and so she had finally decided to do something.
Sarene sighed as the carriage rolled down the quiet street. The weapons probably wouldn't help much; the people of New Elantris were not soldiers. But it had been something she could do.
The carriage pulled to a sudden stop. Sarene frowned, opening her mouth to call out a question to the coachman. Then she paused. Now that the rumbling of the coach had ceased, she could hear something. Something that sounded faintly
like… screams. She smelled the smoke a second later. Sarene pulled back the carriage curtain, poking her head out the window. She found a scene as if from hell itself.
The carriage stood at an intersection. Three streets were calm, but the one directly before her blazed red. Fires billowed from homes, and corpses slumped on the cobblestones. Men and women ran screaming through the streets: others simply stood in dazed shock. Among them stalked shirtless warriors, their skin glistening with sweat in the firelight.
It was a slaughter. The strange warriors killed with dispassion, cutting down man, woman. and child alike with casual swipes of their swords. Sarene watched for a stunned moment before screaming at the coachman to turn them around. The man shook himself from his stupor, whipping at the horses to turn.
Sarene's yell died in her throat as one of the shirtless warriors noticed the carriage. The soldier dashed toward them as the carriage began to turn. Sarene yelled a warning to the coachman too late. The strange warrior leapt. sailing an incredible distance to land on the carriage horse's back. The soldier crouched lithely upon the beast's flesh, and for the first time Sarene could see the inhuman twisting of his body, the chilling fire in his eyes.
Another short hop took the soldier to the top of the carriage. The vehicle rocked slightly, and the coachman screamed.
Sarene threw open her door and stumbled out. She scrambled across the cobblestones, shoes thrown from her feet in haste. Just up the street, away from the fires. lay Kiin's house. If she could only
The coachman's body slammed into a building beside her, then slumped to the ground. Sarene screamed, lurching back, nearly tripping. To the side. the demonic creature was a dark silhouette in the firelight as he dropped from the carriage top, prowling slowly along the street toward her. Though his motions seemed casual, he moved with a lithe alertness. Sarene could see the unnatural shadows and pockets beneath his skin, as if his skeleton had been twisted and carved.
Pushing down another scream, Sarene scrambled away, running up the hill toward her uncle's house. Not fast enough. Catching her would barely be a game for this monster she could hear his footsteps behind. Approaching. Faster and faster. She could see the lights up ahead, but
Something grabbed her ankle. Sarene jerked as the creature yanked with incredible strength. twisting her leg and spinning her so she smashed to the ground on her side. Sarene rolled onto her back, gasping at the pain.
The twisted figure loomed above her. She could hear it whispering in a foreign tongue. Fjordell.
Something dark and massive slammed into the monster, throwing it backward. Two figures struggled in the darkness. The creature howled, but the newcomer bellowed louder. Dazed, Sarene pushed herself up, watching the shadowed
forms. An approaching light soon unmasked them. The shirtIess warrior was expected. The other was not.
'Kiln?' Sarene asked.
Her uncle held an enormous axe. large as a man's chest. He smashed it into the creature's back as it wiggled across the stones, reaching for its sword. The creature cursed in pain, though the axe didn't penetrate far. Kiin wrenched the weapon free, then raised it in a mighty swing and brought it down directly into the demon's face.
The creature grunted. but did not stop moving. Neither did Kiin. He swung again and again, hacking at the monster's head with repeated swings, howling Teoish battle cries in his scratchy voice. Bones crunched, and finally the creature stopped moving.
Something touched her arm, and Sarene yelped. Lukel, kneeling beside her, raised his lantern. 'Come on!' he urged, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet.
They dashed the short distance to Kiin's mansion, her uncle lumbering behind. They pushed through the doors. then stumbled into the kitchen, where a frightened group waited for their return. Daora rushed to her husband as Lukel slammed the door.
'Lukel, collapse the entryway,' Kiin ordered.
Lukel complied, throwing the lever Sarene had always mistaken for a torch-holder. A second later there was a mighty crash from the entryway, and dust poured through the kitchen door.
Sarene plopped into a chair, staring at the quiet room. Shuden was there, and he had managed to find Torena, who sniffled quietly in his arms. Daorn, Kaise, and Adien huddled in a corner with Lukel's wife. Raoden was not there.
'What… what are those things?' Sarene asked. looking up at Lukel.
Her cousin shook his head. 'I don't know. The attack started just a short time ago, and we were worried that something had happened to you. We were outside waiting-it's a good thing Father spotted your coach down at the bottom of the hill.'
Sarene nodded, still a bit numb.
Kiin stood with his wife in one arm, looking down at the bloodied axe in his other hand. 'I swore I would never take up this cursed weapon again,' he whispered.
Daora patted her husband's shoulder. Despite her shock, Sarene realized that she recognized the axe. It used to hang on the kitchen wall. with other mementoes of Kiin's travels. Yet he had held the weapon with obvious skill. The axe wasn't a simple ornament as she had assumed. Looking closely, she could see nicks and scratches on its blade. Etched into the steel was a heraldic Aon-Aon Reo. The character meant 'punishment.'
'Why would a merchant need to know how to use one of those?' Sarene asked, almost to herself.
Kiin shook his head. 'A merchant wouldn't.'
Sarene knew of only one person who had used Aon Reo, though he was more a myth than a man. 'They called him Dreok.' she whispered. 'The pirate Crushth roar.'
'That was always a mistake,' Kiin said in his raspy voice. 'The true name was Dreok Crushedthr oat.'
'He tried to steal the throne of Teod from my father,' Sarene said, looking up into Kiin's eyes.
'No,' Kiin said, turning away. 'Dreok wanted what belonged to him. He tried to take back the throne that his younger brother, Eventeo, stole-stole right from under Dreok's nose while he foolishly wasted his life on pleasure trips.'
Dilaf strode into the chapel, his face bright with satisfaction. One of his monks dropped an unconscious
