"Guess I got lucky with the small fish!" He gave a few more bounces-apparently just because he could. Tycho groaned with each one. "I don't know, though. I guess he's so small the only thing we can do is throw him back!"
That got a strained laugh out of the other men. The sound of water that had filled the vaults was getting louder. Tycho's stomach twisted. He had only managed to tell Li half of the tale about the Hooded's victims. They were found wearing hoods, yes, but they were also found floating offshore, drowned. How they got there was a mystery. Tycho could guess now, though. The Hooded's deep cellar held some kind of underground stream or borehole to the ocean. He offered a desperate prayer to Tymora, the goddess of luck-because they were going to need a lot of it-and shuddered. His captor must have mistaken it for more struggles, because he gave an especially hard bounce.
Tycho's hood slid around on his head. The ends of the drawstring that pulled it tight dropped right beneath his chin.
Chance or actual divine favor, Tycho didn't care. Thank you, blessed Tymora! He dug his chin down against his chest, wiggling until he got it between the ends of the string and under the fabric of the hood then thrust out sharply.
The hood loosened around his neck. Tycho shook his head frantically back and forth.
"Bind me!" his captor spat. "I think the little fish is trying to bite my butt!" He gave him a jostle, but Tycho just kept shaking his head, trying to get the hood to loosen more. It fell over his chin and into his mouth-he spit it out and shook hard. His captor growled in annoyance. "Hey! Cado! Give this fish a swat!"
He spun around just as Tycho gave one last hard shake.
The hood fell off. Tycho twisted his head and found himself staring-upside down-at Cado. "Hey, you!" the bard snarled desperately. He fixed his eyes on the tall man's. "While you were gone, we made a deal with your friends. They're going to let us go and dump you in the water!" He focused his will and poured magic into a burst of song. "Believe me-they're going to betray you!"
For less than a heartbeat, Cado's expression went slack then "Shar damn you both!" He dropped Li, leaving the other guard staggering under the Shou's weight, and took a sharp step away.
Tycho's captor spun back around to face him and Cado whirled out of his field of vision. Tycho craned his neck, trying to get a look around. They were in another low, vaulted chamber. The sound of water was very close. He twisted the other way and caught a glimpse of a pool of dark water, roiling with unseen currents. The Hooded's passage to the ocean. His stomach twisted again at how close they had come to it!
"He's lying, Cado," the man holding Li was saying. He grunted, and there was a thud and a groan as Li hit the stone floor. "We didn't even talk to them-"
Cado just snarled back, "You're a stinking piece of chum, Ledek!"
Metal scraped on leather-a knife being drawn. "Hold on there, Cado!" gasped Tycho's captor. He shrugged and suddenly Tycho was rolling off his shoulder. He landed on his side and pain screamed through his shoulder. For a moment, all he could do was lie there, gasping and watching as Cado circled the other men. The tall guard had a knife in his hand, held low and ready to strike. He stepped slowly, warily.
"You've always had it in for me, haven't you, Vencil? You were jealous because the Hooded favored me. You wanted to move up. And you, Ledek-I've seen you hanging around my stash." Ledek's eyes narrowed and darted off toward one of the vaults. Cado snarled. "I knew it!" Ledek drew a sharp breath, stepping over Li's fallen form and into an area of unobstructed footing.
Li must have sensed that he was clear. He twisted and started rolling away from the conflict-and straight toward the roiling pool! Tycho choked. "Li, stop! Stop! "
The Shou froze just in time, only inches away from the water's edge. Unfortunately, Tycho's warning brought Ledek and Vencil's attention back to their prisoners. "Bind me," hissed Ledek, "it's a trick! Cado, it's all some kind of trick!" He turned to grab-or push!-Li.
"Sweet chum right, it's a trick!" Cado growled. "One I'm not falling for!" He lunged at Ledek's exposed back and Ledek yelled as the knife sank into his shoulder. With a gasp, Vencil leaped for Cado.
Tycho stretched out his legs, tangling Vencil's feet. The man went down hard-and took an even harder blow as Cado, whipping his knife out of Ledek's shoulder, jumped back and stomped down hard on his hand. Vencil howled and clutched the injured hand close. His good hand snapped up and latched onto Cado's belt, pulling him off his feet. Cado twisted and stabbed as he fell.
Beyond the two struggling men, Ledek was staggering unsteadily. "Li!" shouted Tycho. "Roll toward me now!"
Li spun his body around and right into the back of Ledek's legs. With a startled yell, the Hooded's man toppled back. He almost caught himself and for a moment his arms flailed through the air as he fought for balance-and lost.
He splashed back into the dark pool. His last scream was choked off as the current sucked him under.
Cado reared up, whirled around at the noise, and looked down. Vencil lay still beneath him, Cado's knife buried in the side of his chest. Confusion washed across the tall man's face. "Bloody-"
Tycho sang magic at him. Light, sharp and bright, flashed briefly in front of his eyes. Cado reeled back, stumbling over Li's still-rolling body. Guided by the brief moment of contact, Li gave a tremendous shout, drew back his legs, and kicked hard. His feet took Cado square in the backside and sent him slamming headfirst into the stone wall of the vault. He hit with a meaty thud and slid down to sprawl limply on the floor. Li struggled to his knees, panting, hood still in place, but poised to attack anyone who came near. Tycho drew a deep breath. "Li," he said, "it's over."
"There's one more," snarled Li.
"Cado did him." Tycho got himself up onto his knees and shuffled over to Vencil's body. He plopped himself where he could grab the hilt of Cado's knife with his bound hands. It made a wet, sucking sound as it slid free. "Come here and hold out your hands."
It was tricky work, cutting rope that neither of them could see with a knife that was slippery with blood. He managed to do it without nicking either himself or Li more than twice. Hands free, Li immediately ripped off his hood and stared around. His eyes settled on the water of the pool. His mouth opened and, for a moment, no sound came out. Then he gasped, "How close did I come to that?"
"You almost went where Ledek did." Tycho let the knife clatter from his fingers and twisted around. "My turn."
Li cut the rope around his wrists and the bonds on their ankles. Tycho stretched gratefully and swung the shoulder on which he had fallen in gentle arcs. The joint protested, but not badly. He climbed to his feet and checked on Cado. "Unconscious, but not dead." He dug through the tall man's pockets and reclaimed his silver coin. Li, however, took a second knife from Vencil's body and looked in the direction of the stairs. Tycho followed his gaze. "The Hooded," he said.
"Yu Mao," said Li. "Do you still doubt it? Do you still think I'm wrong in what I have to do? He knew who I was and he tried to kill us anyway."
Tycho hesitated. "No," he said finally. "I don't doubt it." He held out his hand and Li gave him one of the knives- the smaller of the two. Tycho closed his fist around the handle. "But before you kill him, I want to get Brin's belju-rils. You may not need to talk to him anymore, but I still need to buy him off!"
"He may want to reward you for killing his rival." "That's not the sort of thing I want a reward for." They bound Cado, gagged him with a strip of cloth, and tucked him away in the darkest corner they could find. Vencil's body they dumped into the pool-Li shuddered as he saw the speed with which the water seized it and took it away. With the obvious signs of their struggle gone, someone would need to look closely to find Vencil's blood on the shadowed floor. There was no one else in the cellar, but there was also no guarantee that there was only one way in and they didn't need anyone raising an alarm.