Raising Evzen - 10. Assault

Sasha set a suit into a bag, on top of several other clothes. He could hear Bohdan yelling out in the parlour, his ears picking up fragments about disappointing the Lidikrys, not taking responsibilities seriously, failing a simple task.
The Novák patriarch had not been happy when they returned from signing up for the JNP. His mood had only worsened when Evžen mentioned that the campus he’d been signed up for was near the Twilight Zone. Honza had left a plane ticket for Evžen when he left the house, for a flight leaving from the Houbové Louky airport early the next storm. The clan was being manipulated, and there was little any of them could do.
The raised voices lasted through the storm, less an argument and more a lecture from Bohdan about how Evžen needed to focus on a career in the navy so Clan Ambroz didn’t destroy their own clan. By the time it ended, Sasha had packed most of Evžen’s belongings. The rest would be easy to stow before they left for the airport.
Dinner was eaten in a tense silence. Sasha ignored the growling of his stomach as he served his master. There would be no food for him this storm, as per Bohdan’s orders, but that would have little effect on the Faro’s performance of his duties.
Leaving Radek and Zelenka with the dishes, Sasha followed Evžen to the Lidikrys’ bedroom, pulling out the last set of bedclothes from the closet. He carried them to the bathroom, starting a warm bath while Evžen watched him.
“What is space like?”
“I have never been to space Pane. But from what I’ve heard, it’s cold and dark. Every ship is covered in lights so you can see,” Sasha said, soothing the Lidikrys’ fear of darkness. “There are no limits to where you can go, provided you have the fuel to get there.”
“Do you think the navy will let me fight the Kanin?”
“I think that’s a good possibility, Pane.”
Evžen’s eyes lit up, shining with the same bloodlust Sasha had seen in the arena. It was a good sign; if the Lidikrys could hold that fervour, he would have something to push him through the academy.
“Good. I want to kill the cannibals. Who eats their own dead?”
Sasha was silent, not sure how to answer that question. Testing the water, the Faro dried off his finger, warming up the dryer as Evžen disrobed.
“I will have your bed prepared for you when you get out of the bath, Pane.”
Evžen nodded, dismissing the Faro, and Sasha closed the bathroom door behind him. Hurrying through the manor, Sasha headed downstairs, grabbing a metal pan from the lower freezer. He was back upstairs and tucking it under Evžen’s blanket long before the Lidikrys had finished his bath.
The lights flickered, a startled yelp coming from the bathroom. Sasha was on instant alert; there was no reason for the lights to do that. Sure, there were several spots in the slave quarters that didn’t have light, but above ground, the electricity should be working just fine.
Sasha grabbed Evžen’s tablet, turning on the light on the back. Opening the bathroom door, the Faro reached around and locked the door, setting the tablet on the other side.
“Pane, stay in this room. Do not come out until you hear four knocks on the door.”
“You can’t tell me what to do!” Evžen squeaked indignantly.
“I don’t know what’s going on right now. I’m going to look around to make sure you’re not in danger. But I cannot protect you if I do not know where you are,” Sasha said patiently.
The lights flickered again, and the Faro shut his eyes an instant before the world went dark around him. Screams of anger and fear echoed through the manor.
“What’s happening!?” Evžen demanded, splashing out of the tub to grab the tablet.
A sudden thump answered the Lidikrys’ question, a gun going off somewhere in the building.
“Stay here Pane.”
Sasha shut the door, testing it briefly to make sure it was locked. He grabbed the metal cooler from the bed; it was as close to a weapon as he was permitted to use. His eyes were adjusting to the darkness decently, and the Faro blinked a few more times, testing his vision before leaving the safety of the room.
Moving swiftly, Sasha ducked into the kitchen, hiding behind the centre island. Muffled voices came from the foyer, Sasha’s eyes closing as he listened.
“No, he’s not the right one. That’s Radek; I’ve seen him before,” a Daknar’s voice hissed.
“All you lizards look alike,” a clicking voice retorted.
“He’s probably in the bedroom, to the left, just beyond the kitchen.”
Footsteps thumped softly through the manor, Sasha holding his breath as the intruders passed through the kitchen. Ducking around the other side of the island, the Faro sucked in another breath at the sight of a Daknar and a Scylid heading toward Evžen’s room.
Not just any Scylid either; that was Drakobijec. The Scylid’s black body was hard to see, but Sasha had only seen the Scylid a storm ago. He knew the mantis. Worse, just behind him, Jianyu was holding a gun in his hands, glancing around nervously. His collar was black, the collar of a slave with no allegiance, but there was no doubt about it. The Anderles’ Daknar was trying to kill Evžen.
Raising the metal pan in his hand, Sasha darted around the counter, launching himself high in the air. The pan slammed into the side of Jianyu’s head, twisting the Daknar as Sasha landed. A second blow followed instantly, the pan slamming into Jianyu’s chin and snapping his head back.
The ghost Scylid turned around as Jianyu crumpled, and Sasha braced himself for the toughest fight of his life.
Kicking the fallen gun out of Jianyu’s reach, the Faro backed up, putting the kitchen island between himself and the Scylid. He could see the dull sheen of metal on Drakobijec’s legs; the Scylid had swords covering his limbs.
Sasha watched the mantis warily as his free hand opened a cabinet. The Faro grabbed at a handle, pulling out a saucepan. Adjusting his grip, Sasha hurled the pan at Drakobijec’s head, darting around the island a second later.
He slid between the Scylid’s dancing legs, bringing the bed cooler down on a foot. The Scylid’s foot shattered, and a bellowing hiss escaped the insect. Sasha dodged a bladed leg, slamming the cooling pan into another leg. Leaping out from under the falling Scylid, the Faro took quick stock of the situation.
Jianyu was still out, but Drakobijec was writhing, his body jerking in convulsions. Sasha hissed at the sight, launching himself at Jianyu. Grabbing the Daknar’s jaw, the Faro wrenched it open, a finger running along Jianyu’s teeth. He knocked a small capsule loose on the back of the Daknar’s mouth, yanking it out to crush under his foot.
The stench of merlo filled the room, a spice that would kill any Daknar if swallowed. It was too late to save the Scylid, but Jianyu was enough. He would tell Sasha everything he knew.
Jianyu was already waking up, blinking heavily. With a startled gasp, he tried to roll over, only to be met with Sasha’s foot and another pan.
“Tell me who sent you,” the Faro snarled.
The Daknar’s left eye looked around frantically, and Sasha frowned, reaching for the right eye. There was a sudden click, and Jianyu gasped.
“No! No, I can get away-!”
He shoved Sasha, the Faro falling as the lizard scrambled away. An instant later, the Daknar’s head exploded, his brains showering the kitchen. Sasha winced as a scale cut his cheek, letting out a sharp curse.
The capsule he should have expected; whoever planned the hit wouldn’t want their agents to be captured alive. But a false eye with explosives? Someone really wanted Evžen dead.
Allowing himself this rare opportunity to grumble, Sasha made his way to the foyer, already knowing what he’d find.
Radek was nailed against the dining room wall, a spike embedded through his head. Sasha passed the corpse, heading outside. He scanned the area warily, watching a robot trying to correct the electricity issue. It took him a moment to reassure himself that there was no one else waiting to attack them.
Returning inside, the Faro headed to the master bedroom, knocking four times on the door. A muffled shriek followed the knock, and Sasha opened the door, waiting a second.
A pan flew past his head, landing with a sharp crash. The Faro opened the door fully, looking up at a terrified Zelenka.
“The intruders are dead. You should inform Pan that he and Paní Adéla are safe. Evžen is unharmed, but Radek was killed in the fight,” he said quietly. “I will have the bodies removed and the house cleaned. It would be a good idea to offer Pan and Paní rest for the remainder of the storm.”
He left the Daknar to her duties, returning to Evžen’s room. Four quiet knocks were answered with a frantic scrabbling on the other side, and the door opened a crack. Sasha closed his eyes as the tablet light shone on him.
“Is it over? Who was that?” the Lidikrys demanded.
“It’s over, Pane. They were disposed slaves, a Scylid and a Daknar,” Sasha said carefully. “I’m trying to figure out who sent them, but they’re both dead.”
“Well why’d you kill them then? They can’t talk if they’re dead.”
“I have no excuse for their deaths, Pane.”
“You messed up,” Evžen accused.
“I did.”
“And you need to be punished,” the Lidikrys decided.
“Yes Pane.”
Evžen’s face screwed up, a yawn slipping from him.
“It is past your bedtime Pane. We have a long trip next storm, and it would be wise for you to sleep,” Sasha said gently.
“I’ll decide your punishment when I wake up,” Evžen nodded. “Help me dress.”
The lights flickered back on as Sasha dressed his master. Turning on the Krvavý Škrtič statue, the Faro tucked Evžen into his bed, before turning off the ceiling light and closing the door.

Bleach took care of much of the blood. Sasha scrubbed at the kitchen counter while the bodies were removed from the manor. He’d already explained what he could to the Lidikrys who had answered his call, namely that he had no idea why Jianyu and Drakobijec had attacked. The best he could give them was that the Daknar used to belong to Clan Anderle, but even Clan Anderle didn’t have the money to buy Drakobijec’s services.
The Faro did his own sleuthing as he worked on cleaning the scene of the fight. A bit of illicit searching on a tablet showed that money had been transferred to Clan Anderle the day before by Chrysí Avgí, but tracking that name down led nowhere. Sasha knew it was an Alliance term, Egaran in nature, but he couldn’t find any person, clan, or company that went by the name Golden Dawn. Were they a front for the Anderles? A way to throw anyone off the trail?
There wasn’t enough information to cross anyone off the list. Sasha even contemplated whether Bohdan had put a hit on his own son, to get rid of an embarrassment and handle his deal with Ambroz in one shot. Neither the Daknar nor the Scylid had even attempted to go anywhere else in the house; they knew exactly where Evžen would be.
The Faro locked the door after the Lidikrys left, looking around the foyer and kitchen one last time to make sure they were clean. There was a hole in the foyer wall that would need to be repaired, but the blood was gone.
Next, he began working on breakfast. It would take time for the rolls Bohdan enjoyed to bake, and without Radek, he had to do everything himself. Sasha felt the briefest flash of sympathy for Zelenka, who would have to do everything on her own when Sasha and Evžen left the next storm. It passed in an instant. There was no time for sympathy.
Finally, Sasha allowed himself the luxury of checking his own body. Apart from the cut on his cheek, which had clotted fine on its own, he had a long slice running along his side. The Faro grunted, mentally scolding himself. He thought he’d missed the Scylid’s blades.
It wasn’t deadly by any means, but it could make things difficult later. He wasn’t at his best if he was injured. Sasha resigned himself to at least two bells in the med tank while the bread baked. But first, he had to repair the hole in the wall.