The Assassins of Altis Read Online Free PDF Page A

to full alertness. The heavily falling snow made it hard to tell exactly where the noise had come from. Mari stood up very slowly and carefully, trying not to make a sound, snow cascading from her as she rose. Alain waited until she was ready, then he did the same, snow showering off his body with a soft murmur. Perhaps it was just the nearest ruins shifting as they decay. Perhaps. A scraping sound came from somewhere close by, as if something had rubbed up against something else. But I do not believe it.
    Alain put his mouth to Mari’s ear, speaking as quietly as he could. “They are out there. I am sure of it. We must go now.”
    She nodded wordlessly, then lifted one foot, moved it slowly to the side, brought it down with great care, then slid a little ways along the wall. Alain followed, his eyes and ears straining for any more signs of their pursuers. A fight now would surely alert the Imperial watch towers.
    Another rattle not far away. Alain thought it might have come from their left. Mari kept moving as soundlessly as possible, easing right with her back against the wall, almost to the nearest gap now where the wall had been breached long ago.
    Alain clearly heard a foot come down in the snow, then the rasping of breath from more than one man. They are almost on top of us. He reached for Mari’s arm and pushed her toward the break in the wall, knowing that only speed could save them now.
    Mari jumped, grabbing the edge of a huge, broken stone to steady herself, then vanishing around the corner. Alain leaped after her, hearing the rush of feet and the rattle of debris as their pursuers also abandoned any attempt at stealth. He made the corner, rounding it into the break just as hands grabbed at him. Alain lunged forward and down into the opening in the wall, trying to break the grip and found himself staring up at Mari, who had her Mechanic weapon in her hand and was swinging it like a club instead of firing it. He heard the thud of the weapon’s impact against something, then the hands on him let go and Mari was pulling Alain up and along. The ancient wall was thick here near its base. They had to skid across broken, massive stones slick with snow, not knowing in the murk how much farther they had to go. Then they suddenly dropped into darkness.
    Alain had only a moment to feel the fear of the fall before they landed in a snow drift which had piled up on the outside of the walls. He and Mari staggered out of the drift, not knowing whether their foes would try to chase them beyond the -city walls. They had not gone more than a short distance before they heard the unmistakable thumps of more bodies landing in the snow drift behind them.
    “We’re trapped between two enemies,” Mari gasped. “If we move too slowly those barbarians will catch us, and if we run at the Imperial line they’ll see us or we’ll trip that Mage alarm you warned me about and — ”
    “That is what we must do,” Alain said as the answer came to him. “We must distract the Imperials, and we have to deal with the barbarians. Or let each side take care of the other for us.”
    “What do you — ?” Mari got it, her words sounding with sudden enthusiasm. “Use our two problems to cancel each other out? That’s some brilliant math for someone who doesn’t know geometry, my Mage.”
    Alain pulled Mari close. “Hold tight to my cloak. Use both hands. And come along as fast as possible.”
    Alain went straight ahead, walking as quickly as he could in the snow with Mari at his back. They could hear the sound of others behind them. Then Alain spotted the drifting strands which indicated a Mage alarm. Instead of trying to move the strands aside, Alain walked through them.
    He walked a little farther, then paused as he felt a presence not too far distant. “There is a Mage near,” he breathed into Mari’s ear. He heard her muffled curse. “Release me, walk near, and drop flat and motionless when I say to.”
    He felt her nod, then Mari