Free Moon's Artifice by Tom Lloyd

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    The demon lurched unsteadily towards it, but this time the goshe drove in to meet it and smashed a lightning-wreathed fist into the snagged limb like a hammer. A cracking sound cut through the night and the demon yowled, but then the first goshe was on it and hacking down at its head. Both struck in quick succession and the creature spasmed and fell limp.
    Cotto managed a croak, a gasp for air as everything fell still around him. The second goshe looked down and slid up its mask, revealing a woman’s face. In the white light of his Starsight, Cotto saw pale skin and light eyes, a wisp of hair creeping down her cheek towards a thin scar that seemed strangely bright in the augmented light.
    ‘Kodeh,’ she said briskly to her comrade, pointing at the larger of the demons with her axe. ‘Take that one and head back before anything comes to investigate.’
    ‘And the fox ?’ Kodeh asked, accent and black skin marking him as a fellow Dragon – a native of this district in some fashion, just as Cotto was.
    ‘Leave it, it’s just a vessel. The demon-spirit’s gone, but the other is one of their soldiers. The Elders will want to study it.’
    ‘As you command.’ The big man spared a glance down at Cotto. ‘What about him ?’
    She looked down and Cotto drunkenly tried to pull himself upright with his good arm. ‘They have his scent now.’
    ‘Syn … Synter,’ Cotto gasped. ‘I can walk.’
    Her face was blank. ‘I doubt that,’ she said. ‘Kodeh, I’ll meet you at the safehouse. First I need to warn Father Jehq.’
    ‘Of what ?’
    The woman’s face tightened with anger. ‘This was an ambush ; they knew we’d be looking for signs of Irato. That fox was digging into Cotto’s mind, we’ve no idea how much they know. We need to cover our tracks and protect the artefact.’
    ‘What … about me ?’ Cotto panted, fear taking him as Kodeh tossed the dead monstrosity over his shoulder and trotted back across the rooftops.
    Synter ignored him and went to see to Shir. She crouched down over the man for a few moments then drew a knife from her belt and cut his throat, tossing the body with ease down the sloped roof until it fell to the ground.
    ‘Synter !’ Cotto pleaded as she stood over him. ‘Don’t !’
    There was no pity in her pale eyes as she returned to him, nor remorse. Focused on the task at hand, the female goshe didn’t even seem to hear him.
    ‘Let’s hope they got nothing from you,’ she muttered to herself, ‘we’re too close now.’
    She reached into a pocket and withdrew a small bag, hefting it in her hand as she gave Cotto an appraising look. ‘Time to clear up behind us. Wouldn’t want to leave anything for the Astaren to find now, would we ?’
    The blackened blade flashed once more in his star-lit eyes and then all was dark.

Chapter 4
    Blood stains his hands and streaks the grey of his trousers. His knees are damp, sodden by the dark, sticky mess of death surrounding the unconscious Wyvern nobleman. The stink of human waste hangs thick on the air, the voided bowels of those who have died, but there is no time to be disgusted. Enchei tears a surcoat from the body of one fallen guard, uses a knife to cut away the bloodied front. This he wads up and, pulling Narin’s blood-slicked hand away from the nobleman’s crotch, he presses the fresh bandage against the wound.
    ‘He’s still alive ?’ Narin hears himself ask as the first compress peels jerkily away from his palm and flops to the ground.
    ‘He’ll live,’ Enchei confirms, ‘but this needs proper bandaging.’
    ‘Can we carry him ? It’s not far to Dragon District.’
    Enchei is silent for a while. There’s a smear of blood on his forehead – not his own, he’s just wiped away the sweat of his exertions with bloodied hands.
    ‘No, I have a better idea,’ he says at last.
    ‘Better than taking him to safety ?’
    The tattooist nods. ‘I know a woman, not far from here. A midwife, she’ll have clean