4 City of Strife by William King Page A

wonder you want to prolong it.”
    “Do you have any more duties for me?”
    “Balthazar has divined that the Silent Man will not return for several nights. Soon we will strike back at the Krugmans.”
    “How will you do that?”
    “Masked men attacked my property last night. I believe they might attack Jurgen’s soon.”
    “When and where?”
    “I will let you know in my own good time,” said Karsten. “Not tonight though.”
    “Then I believe I will seek some entertainment in the Maze,” said Kormak. Tonight would be the full moon. If the Beast was going to be in the Maze, he wanted to be there too. Balthazar looked up at that. His nostrils dilated. He scratched at his neck with his discoloured nails.
    “I thought you would be spending time with the lovely Lila,” said Karsten.
    “I will be doing that too,” said Kormak. “But there are some things I need to spend this money on.”
    “There’s plenty more where that came from,” said Karsten.

    In the chamber deep below the ground, all was dank and cold. The light of a single lantern illuminated the gloom. The robed man bowed his head as he entered the chamber and confronted the bestial figure within. It was taller than he, covered in fur, with a head like that of a great albino rat. Its inhuman eyes glared at the newcomer full of controlled fury. If the thin man was frightened by this, he gave no sign.
    “It is as I feared,” the robed man said.
    “How so?” The Beast’s voice was high-pitched, the words lisped around fangs large enough to tear out a man’s throat with ease.
    “This Sir Kormak is not what he seems.”
    “Who ever is?” The Beast remarked. It gave vent to a strange collection of coughs that might have been laughter.
    “He dealt with the Silent Man. He is not frightened of magic. I don’t like the way he smells.”
    “And how is that?”
    “He carries a blade that can harm the Children of Murnath as easily as it can the Silent Man.”
    “He is a Guardian of the Dawn then. The fat monk’s threat is to be fulfilled.”
    The robed man nodded. “I told you it was a mistake to kill their agents.”
    “They were getting too close to the truth. They needed to be stopped. Murnath’s human cultists were overzealous in their sacrifices. The monk’s agents overheard their boasting. Fortunately our small kin overheard them . . .”
    “And this Kormak?” The robed man asked. “He will need to be stopped too. And you know what that will lead to. Kill one of his sort and two more appear. They are like cockroaches.”
    “I doubt he would be flattered by that comparison.”
    “I am more worried about what his order might do if we kill him.”
    The bestial figure laughed again. “We do not need to kill him.”
    “You think it a good idea to let him live and hunt.”
    “I said we do not need to kill him. In this city, assassins can always be found if you have the gold. Let Murnath’s human followers hunt him as they did the monk.”
    “He will be in the Maze tonight. Looking for monsters no doubt.”
    “Men die in the Maze all the time. Hire killers and make sure they are waiting when he comes to investigate.”
    “Others have tried to kill him. He cut them down.”
    “Poison and crossbow bolts are the answer to that. I shall draw him out and lead him to the slaughter.”
    “Let it be done,” said the robed man. “We have come too far to be stopped now. By the time this moon passes, we will be masters of the city.”

    Kormak strode into the great slum district of the Maze. All around him, decrepit buildings leaned against each other like staggering drunks supporting each other in the last stages of a spree. Some had already tumbled down into half-ruins. Most of the others looked like they would go that way if more snow piled on their roofs or a strong wind struck them.
    Beggars were everywhere, in the direst extremes of hunger. They avoided him, repelled by his aura of silent menace. They assumed he was a debt collector or