Chapter 4: Raven's Peak

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Raven's Peak

Lin Su looked out at the city from her tree. She detested cities, but to this one she was destined to go.

"Go to Raven's Peak," the old woman had said. "Your destiny begins there."

Lin tapped her fingers on her thigh. The noise of the city assaulted her ears and the smell made her want to gag. Making a face, she slowly climbed down out from her perch. Adjusting the light pack on her back, she struck out for the city below, gripping her staff tightly. She was almost beyond the guards before they realized she was there.

"Hey! You! Stop!"

Lin looked curiously over her shoulder at the enraged guard. "Is there a problem?" she asked in a voice as gentle and soft as a lamb's.

The guard blushed furiously. "Well, ah, Lady, I must, that is -- What is your name?"

"Lin."

"A -- are you planning on being in the city long?"

"As long as it takes," she answered.

"Well, ah, okay, go ahead." Flustered, the guard backed away and Lin continued on into the city.

Lin drifted along with the crowd, soon finding herself in Merchant's Way. Stepping off to one side, Lin scanned the shops. Spying a likely looking place, Lin made her way inside. The place was empty of customers; the shelves curiously empty of wares.

"May I help you?" asked the woman behind the counter.

"I need some sugar," answered Lin.

The woman blinked in surprise. "Sugar?" she echoed.

Lin missed the woman's puzzlement as she looked around the store. "Yes," she answered, "and salt."

"How much?" asked the woman.

Lin pulled out two coins, setting them on the counter. "And where can I find a silversmith?"

"My cousin owns the shop across the way. He'll be happy to assist you. Tell him Mariah sent you."

Lin nodded, dropping her two sacks in her pack. Across the street, the smith's shop was more crowded. Lin looked around as she waited her turn. The weapons on display were mainly steel and of masterwork quality. Of its own will, Lin's hand reached out to caress a fine crossbow on one of the counters. She had never seen one this fine. Not even her master, Lyseon, had a weapon as finely wrought as this one.

"You like it?"

Lin looked up, into the light-brown eyes of a man in his middle thirties. Clearly, this was the woman's cousin. She nodded. "I do, but that is not why I have come."

"What can I get for you?"

"I am looking for someone."

The man's face tightened. "Who?" he asked.

"Destiny. I was told to seek out Destiny."

The man stiffened. "I don't know what you are talking about," he said through gritted teeth.

"Mariah sent me."

The man picked up the crossbow, pretending to examine it. "What you seek," he said softly, "you will find in the square. Begins at noon. If you hurry, you may yet find a place." He set the crossbow down. "Perhaps," he continued, louder, "you will find what you seek somewhere else."

Shrugging, Lin left the shop. She dropped back into the crowd, letting them guide her to the square. Finding a suitable place, she moved to get a better view. The crowd thickened as she watched, centered on the square and a stage erected there.

Directly after the bells tolled noon, the auction began. Lin stared in disbelief as person after person was sold to the crowd.

"How can this be?" she murmured softly. Now she understood why the old woman had sent her here. Lin could remember, as if it were yesterday, her own bondage years ago. Hidden away with Lyseon and his Circle, Lin had not believed other creatures could be held in servitude as she had been.

Those sold came in many shapes and sizes. Male and female, young and old, humans of every type and size entered and left the square for hours.
Lin swallowed the bile in her throat, rubbing at eyes that threatened to leak tears. When the auction ended at last, a drained Lin sat for long moments alone as the crowd drifted away.

"Did you see enough?"

Lin looked up. The silversmith stood there, leaning easily against the store railing. She looked away, but scenes of the hours passed flickered across her eyes.

"Sickening, isn't it? But you haven't seen it all."

Lin's head jerked up and her eyes met those of the silversmith.

"This way," he said, turning and walking away.

Lin followed him to a more run-down section of the city. She joined him as he paused in an alley. He beckoned silently. Looking around to see if anyone was watching, the silversmith pried up a loose board and ushered Lin inside. They cautiously climbed the shabby steps just inside, walked across the swaying catwalk above the empty warehouse, and down the steps on the other side. They sneaked along the side of the warehouse toward the back, stopping just short of the back wall.

Laying a finger to his lips, the silversmith dislodged a panel of wood. Lin pressed her eyes to the hole. She did not first understand what she saw.

A woman, filthy, battered, and sick, crouched at the back of a tiny cage, a circle of iron around her neck, chaining her to the floor. In front of the cage was a circle of gawkers, laughing, pointing and throwing things at the woman. A man with a long stick jabbed the captive, causing her to howl in pain and rage.

The silversmith clapped a hand over Lin's mouth, dragging her away.

"How can they do that?" Lin hissed when he let her go. "That's . . that's . . !" she threw up her hands in frustrated horror.

"What will you do?"

"Do?" Lin asked. "What do you mean? Surely the law?"

The silversmith shook his head. "They never come into this section of the city. And she's not human, so they wouldn't care."

"How long?" Lin asked. "How long, has she been, there?"

"Almost a week. They brought her in from the west. A band went out to hunt the orcs there that were terrorizing the merchants. Paid well for the slaughter, I hear."

"Paid to murder?" Lin growled.

"Paid to make the roads safe."

"Orcs would not attack caravans without reason," Lin said. "There is something amiss here."

"So what will you do?"

Lin chewed her lip thoughtfully. "First I must rescue her. No creature deserves to be tormented that way. Then I will find out why nature's balance has been upset."

Returning to the slit, Lin began to murmur under her breath. At the final word, the woman within suddenly lit up as if on fire. She screamed in fear, the onlookers backing away. Lin continued chanting under her breath and suddenly the woman stopped screaming and instead fastened both hands around the chain hooked into the floor. With one mighty heave, the chain broke free and the woman lunged toward the bars of her cage.

The people shouted in confusion and terror, trampling each other trying to flee. One man remained, striking the woman with his pole, but he only made her even angrier.

Lin's hand rose, pointing toward the man. A flash of light burst directly in front of him and he cried out in pain, backing away and dropping his pole. He rubbed tearing eyes, staring, unseeing toward his attacker.

The captive whirled toward the source of the light. Charging, she broke through the thin wooden wall, but collapsed, exhausted. Quickly, the silversmith wrapped her in his cloak, picking up her slight form.

"Come," he told Lin, "We must go before we are found."


{c}"Chapter 5: A Bargain Made"