Though Atreus was concerned for Rishi, his thoughts had already leaped to hisown fate, and Seema"s. "What"s this "Multi-verse" of Tarch"s? And who are the "bashers"?" Seema shrugged, then removed a curved needle from one of her pouches andthreaded it with coa.r.s.e black thread.
"Tarch is a devil. He says many things I do not understand."
Atreus raised his brow. "A devil?" he asked. "One of Ysdar"s?"
Seema"s brown eyes lit in brief distress. She laughed nervously. "It is possible, butYsdar has been locked away for a very long time." She pushed the needle through aflap of Atreus"s skin and said, "Ysdar is only a myth now."
"Myths can be dangerous, too," Atreus replied. "He certainly caused me enoughtrouble."
Seema raised her brow but said nothing and began to sew. There was a faint tugging at the edge of the gash, but the yellow powder had left the wound too numbto feel more. Atreus sipped at the elixir and glanced around the barge casually,taking stock of the situation. He counted thirty slaves chained in the center of theboat, with only eight slavers still aboard to guard them; four in the bow and four in thestern. There were also the two burly oarsmen and Tarch himself, who was a great unknown, but with surprise the odds would clearly favor the slaves. In fact, Atreus foundit difficult to understand why they had not rebelled already.
He leaned closer to Seema and whispered, "What can you tell me about Tarch in afight?"
Seema scowled and said, "You mustn"t ask such things. Blood draws blood*"
A rousing cry went up from the edge of the barge and Atreus knew one of theslavers in the water had come up with Rishi. Tarch growled an order at the oarsmen,and the boat began to move upstream with surprising speed.
Leaving his wound half st.i.tched, Atreus pushed Seema"s hand away and started torise. The slaver who had gone to fetch his dry clothes emerged from the cabin carrying an armload of grimy cloaks and trousers."What"s all the noise?" he demanded, looking to Seema.
Atreus settled back to his elbow. "They"ve got Rishi back. It looks like you"re going to be rich men.""Tarch will be rich," the slaver corrected, dumping the clothes on the deck. "He isn"t much for sharing."
As the slaver turned to join the others, Atreus flung his blanket aside. Hegrabbed the back of the guard"s belt and pulled himself up, at the same timedriving the heel of his palm into the base of the man"s skull. Something popped inthe slaver"s neck, then he collapsed into his killer"s arms.
Atreus jerked the padded club off the man"s belt and sprang across the deck, raising the weapon to strike even as Seema cried out in shock. A pair of guards spuntoward her voice, but Atreus ignored them and went straight for Tarch. The clubcaught the devil across the side of the head and knocked him into the water.
Atreus continued the swing, smashing the club into a guard"s head. The impactknocked the man unconscious and sent him sprawling across the deck toward Seema. Atreus crippled a second slaver with a stomp kick to the knee, then found himself standing on the outside edge of the deck, facing two guards with their ownclubs.
He pressed the a.s.sault, sliding forward to feint at the one standing on the insideof the deck. As Inside tried to block, Outside took the bait, slipping around toattack from the rear. Atreus performed a quick reverse-spin, catching the fool inthe chest with a back-thrust kick that launched Outside into the river.
Suddenly alone, Inside screamed for help and backed away. Atreus moved in fast, beating the slaver"s guard down in three quick blows and finishing him off withan elbow to the temple. So powerful was the strike that the man"s eye poppedfree of its socket. He screamed and reached for his head, then fell silent and collapsed.Atreus returned to the side and kicked the slaver with the mangled knee over theedge, and only then did he pause to peer into the river. His victims lay in a line trailing downstream from the boat, with Tarch floating facedown at the far end, his scaly armsand tail lashing the water as though instinctively trying to right himself. Rishi was ashort distance upstream, bobbing in the grasp of the first guard Tarch had sent torescue him. Both the Mar and his captor were shivering, coughing, and looking as astonished as they did exhausted.
"In the name of the Forgotten Ones, good sir!" called Rishi, coughing up water."What are you doing?"
"Escaping," Atreus replied. A confused uproar rose forward. He glanced towardthe bow to see the four bow guards rushing back, clambering over slaves withwhips and clubs in hand. He waved at Rishi. "If you want to live, get over here and help!"
Rishi"s hand disappeared beneath his cloak. In the next instant, his rescuer criedout and released him, then floated away grasping his ribs. The Mar swam for the boat.
When Atreus turned back to the forward guards, he found Seema standing before him. Her hands were covered with blood, and she had such a look of confusion on her face that he feared the worst.
"Seema, are you injured?" Atreus reached out to grasp her shoulder, but shequickly shook his hand off and pulled away. He lowered his arm and wondered what hecould have been thinking. "I"m sorry. I shouldn"t have presumed*"
"Two men!" she cried. "You killed two men!" Atreus shrugged, unable to understand why she seemed so surprised. "It was nothing," he said humbly. "I had the advantage of surprise."
The barge lurched, then began to travel in the opposite direction as the oarsmenbegan rowing downstream. Atreus stepped around Seema, gesturing toward the rear of the boat. "Rishi will need help getting aboard."
Atreus grabbed a second club off the second dead guard, then leaped a row ofslaves and started forward. The bow guards swarmed past the oarsmen on bothsides, determined to meet their foe en ma.s.se.
Atreus angled off toward the starboard oarlock. The four slavers seemed confused for a moment, then saw that smashing the oarlock would prevent thebarge from going after Tarch. They rushed to cut Atreus off, spreading themselvesout in a line. He cut back toward the middle, leaping two rows of screaming slavesto attack the guard on the end.
The slaver lashed out with his whip and wrapped up one of Atreus"s arms, then brought his club around in a wild attack. Atreus deflected the blow with the shaft of one of his own weapons, then stepped forward and smashed the hard b.u.t.t into theslaver"s brow. The man"s eyes were still turning gla.s.sy as Atreus turned to meet his next pair of foes.
The two guards split up, leaping slave rows in opposite directions so they couldapproach from both flanks. The last slaver advanced to take their place, and Atreus suddenly found himself facing three foes. He pulled his arm free of his lastvictim"s whip and began to whirl his clubs through the air, weaving an impenetrable curtain of defense around his body. The effort pained his soreshoulder, but he did not dare give his enemies a static opening.
The three slavers cracked their whips and advanced, their padded clubs heldat the high ready. Atreus eased back, his breath coming hard and ragged. Theslaves cringed and covered their heads, filling the boat with the eerie rattle ofchains.
"Stand and fight for yourselves!" Atreus yelled. "What"s wrong with you?" The slaves did nothing except wail and rattle their chains more loudly. The guardssmirked and struck with their whips. Atreus caught two attacks in his defensivecurtain, then dropped his clubs before his foes could use them to draw him offbalance. The third whip got through and twined itself around his forearm. He circledhis hand over the cord and caught hold, giving it a mighty jerk.
When the slaver came stumbling forward, Atreus pivoted sideways and planted a stomp-kick square in the fellow"s chest. The sternum broke with a loud pop,then the guard dropped to the deck gasping and groaning. Hoping to catch their foeweaponless, the last two slavers charged.
Atreus turned and sprinted for the rowing platform behind him. The two oarsmen abandoned their duties to meet him, but they were hardly a match for onewho had grown up brawling with ogres. Atreus grabbed the first by the shirt andslammed him into the second, then brought the first one forward again and headb.u.t.ted him.
The man"s nose exploded across his face, spewing blood and cartilage in everydirection. Atreus flung his victim into the guards behind him, stepping forward to kick the second oarsman"s feet from beneath him. The fellow landed flat on his back, and Atreus finished him with a stomp to the throat. He turned to find his last two attackerstrying to claw their way out from beneath the oarsman with the smashed nose.
Atreus grinned and leaped into the fray, biting an ear off and gouging two eyes out with his naked fingers, both favorite ogre brawling tricks. By the time he finished, hewas painted in blood, and the two slavers were clutching their mutilated faces,screaming miserably and lying at the feet of their horrified charges.
Atreus rose, braced his hands on his knees, and tried to ignore the pain racking hisbody. His wounds were taking their toll, even after Seema"s elixir. Normally, a little wrestling match would hardly be enough to tire him."B-by the Forgotten Ones, look what you have done! Eight men and T-Tarch!" criedRishi. The Mar was kneeling on the aft deck, soaked and shivering as Seema tuggedat his wet clothes. "You are Ysdar"s devil!"
The words caused the slaves to cringe away from Atreus. He cursed under his breath and held out his hands to rea.s.sure the frightened captives, but this onlycaused them to cry out in their native tongue and fling themselves away.
"I am not a devil!" Even as Atreus said this, he glanced down at his naked, blood-smeared body and realized how deceiving appearances could be. "Rishi, tell them! I"m just a man."
Atreus started toward the dry clothes awaiting him on the rear deck, then saw ascaly hand rise up behind the stern and grasp the barge. He s.n.a.t.c.hed the nearestclub and started aft, the slaves straining against their chains to lean out of his way.Rishi"sjawdropped,andwhatlittlecolorhe had vanished.
"There is no need for temper, good sir! I will tell them!"
Rishi began to speak to the slaves in Maran, somehow staggering to his feetdespite the stump of the severed lance still protruding from his calf. Seema frowned and draped a dry blanket over his shoulders, scolding him in her version ofthe same language. A second scaly hand appeared beside the first, and still neitherof them noticed.
Atreus leaped another row of slaves, and Rishi reached into his cloak for a throwing knife. "No! Behind you," Atreus shouted, pointing with his club.
The sound of cascading water murmured up from the river, and Tarch"s pointedhead appeared just above the deck. Rishi spun and flung his knife in one motion, striking the slave master square between the eyes.
The tip scattered a few scales, then clattered to the deck, unable to penetrateTarch"s thick brow.
"I knew you was trying to peel me," Tarch growled.
The devil pulled himself up over the edge of the deck. Rishi cursed and grabbed Seema, hobbling around to put her between himselfand the slave master.
"This is not my doing!" Rishi produced a throwing knife and pressed it to Seema"s cheek, saying, "Touch me, and I will mark her!"
Atreus. .h.i.t the rear deck at a sprint and, ignoring his urge to club Rishi senseless on the way past, rushed to meet the slave master. Tarch sprang ontohis feet as nimbly as a lynx. Atreus charged in swinging.
This time, Tarch was ready. He caught the attack on his wrist, then counter-punched to the body. Atreus tried to leap clear, and only his backward momentum kept the slave master"s fist from driving a shattered rib through hislungs. As it was, the impact forced the air from his chest and knocked himthree full paces backward.
Atreus staggered and barely managed to keep his feet, allowing Tarch to stepsecurely onto the deck. Rishi backed away slowly, still holding his knife to Seema"sface, and the slaves murmured in fear.
"You can take a punch." Tarch stepped toward Atreus. "That"s good. There"ll be a lot of punches in Baator."
Atreus did not reply*his aching lungs did not contain the air. He simplylaunched himself at the slave master, club held high. When Tarch raised his armto block, Atreus leaped into the air and planted both feet square in the slavemaster"s chest. Tarch stumbled backward and slipped overboard, catching theedge of the deck as he dropped into the water. Atreus landed on his side and began to slam his heels down on the slave master"s scaly fingers. Two digitscame loose, but then Tarch"s second hand caught him by the ankle.
A strange tingling stung Atreus"s flesh. His leg grew numb and weak, and hiswhole body started to quiver. An unreasoning fear welled up inside him, chasingfrom his mind all he had ever learned about fighting. He dropped his club andclawed at the deck. He could think only of escaping the terror that had him, of freeing himself of this inhuman thing and hurling himself into the icy river andswimming for the sh.o.r.e. Any sh.o.r.e.
Tarch"s pointy head peered over the side, his grasp still firm on Atreus"s ankle."Leatherhead! Now you"ve driven me berkers," the slave master swore. "Gold orno gold, I"ll make bloodmeal of you and your*"
A whip cracked, coiling itself around Tarch"s throat and cutting short his threat.As the slave master choked out his rage, Atreus looked across the deck and wasastonished to find Rishi standing at the other end, feet braced and pulling hard tokeep the line taut.
"Good sir, you m-must take up your club and hit him!"
In his mindless panic, Atreus came near to not understanding. He turned awayand clawed at the deck, still trying to kick his leg free. He felt shamed by hisbehavior but could not help himself. This fear was unlike anything he had everknown. It was the overwhelming terror of indestructible evil.
A strangled chortle rose from Tarch"s throat, and Atreus realized, dimly, that thedevil was laughing at him. The slave master let go of the deck and grabbed the whip. A stream of flame shot up the strand, moving so fast that Rishi barely hadtime to drop the weapon before a brilliant flash consumed the handle and arceddown to touch off a small deck fire.
As all this occurred, Tarch started to sink back into the river, dragging Atreus with him. This was too much. Clutching for anything he could grab, Atreus found only the club, which would do nothing to keep his captor from dragging him downinto a watery h.e.l.l. He grasped the weapon in both hands and twisted around, slamming the shaft into the slave master"s skull.The impact rocked Tarch"s head sideways but did not cause him to open hishand. The slave master sank to his neck in the river, continuing to drag his captivewith him. Atreus brought the club around again, this time connecting just behind thedevil"s pointed ear.
Tarch"s beady eyes rolled back in their hollow sockets. His hand came free ofAtreus"s ankle, and he splashed into the river. His legs and torso bobbed upbeside him, so that he was floating spread-eagled beside the barge. Atreus used the club to shove the slave master away, then kneeled on the edge of thedeck watching him twitch and tremble. When the devil had finally drifted a safedistance off, Atreus rose and turned forward.
Seema and Rishi were busy smothering the deck fire with blankets, while theslaves were craning their necks to see what was happening on the rear deck. Stillsuffering the strange effects of Tarch"s grasp, Atreus pointed at the rowing platformin the center of the boat.
"What"s wrong with you?" he screamed. "Start rowing!"
The slaves only cowered and looked as though they feared he would kill them.Atreus glanced over the side and saw Tarch still drifting back toward the boat, hischest rising and falling with shallow breath.
Atreus turned back to the slaves and screamed again, "I said row, d.a.m.n you!"
Seema dropped her blanket over the smoldering fire and came over to him. "Breathe deeply, Atreus. Compose yourself," she said, touching his arm. He immediately began to feel more calm. "Tarch has used his power on you. If youthink, you will recall that the slaves are chained. You will know they cannot do whatyou ask."Atreus"s terror began to subside. After a moment, he nodded. "You are right, of course." Now that his panic was fading, he was beginning to feel embarra.s.sed byhis behavior. "Forgive me. I promised to protect you from Tarch, and now here I am,so terrified that I cannot even think clearly."
Atreus selected a cloak and a pair of trousers from the dingy pile of clothes still lyingon the deck, then turned toward the rowing station. "I"ll start us upstream," he told her. "See if you can unchain someone and get him to take my place."
"Whatever you wish."
Seema surprised him with a bow, then turned toward the cabin, leaving a shivering and staggering Rishi to put out the remains of the deck fire. Atreus pulledon his new clothes and went forward to the rowing station. All that remained of the day"s light was a gray glow in the western sky, and he could barely see the willowsstretching away into the vast-ness. Yago was out there somewhere, either lost ordead, and Atreus had no idea how he would find out which.
He started to call out for his friend, then looked downstream and thought betterof it. The last two dugouts were just rounding the bend below, about two hundred paces distant Calling for Yago would only alert them to his presence and place him in moredanger. It would be better to trust the ogre to figure things out on his own. He wasa capable hunter and would know how to read the signs when he came to the sh.o.r.ewhere they had battled Naraka.
Atreus grabbed the monstrous oars and swung the boat around, and soon he was working too hard to notice the growing chill. Seema emerged from the cabinwith a hammer and cold chisel that she tried to give to one of the larger slaves. Atfirst, the astonished fellow kept looking in Atreus"s direction and refused to take thetools, but when Seema pointed at the empty rowing station, he finally seemed tounderstand and began pounding at his shackles.
By the time the slave freed himself, dusk had fallen completely, leaving the boatilluminated only by the light of the full moon. The man approached Atreus warily and carefully laid the hammer and chisel at his feet, then grabbed the second set of oarsand began to row. Too exhausted to puzzle over the peculiar behavior, Atreus gave the tools to thenearest slave and instructed him to free everyone. This occasioned a great deal ofconfused murmuring, but eventually Atreus managed to communicate what hewanted and went aft to join Seema and Rishi. He pulled a spare blanket over hisshoulders and sank down on the deck beside them.
"What"s wrong with them?" he asked. "They don"t seem very eager to escape."
"They are afraid," said Seema. She was working by the light of a small oil lamp,poking and prodding at the lance in Rishi"s leg. "They think you will kill them if they try."
"Me?" Atreus exclaimed. "We"re all in this together!"Seema looked up. "What do you mean, together?" "They do not understand you, Atreus," Rishi laughed. "They think you are one thieving devil stealing fromanother."
Atreus sighed and looked at Seema. "Is that what you think?"
"I think being a thief is only a small wickedness," Seema said, avoiding Atreus"s gaze as she continued to examine Rishi"s leg. "There are greater evils in this world."
"I am no thief," Atreus declared, "and I am no devil. When we reach the head of the river, they are free to return to their homes. Tell them."
Seema looked up. *Truly?"
It was Rishi who answered, "Oh yes, truly. The good sir is a silly fool who cares nothing for wealth." The Mar cast a wistful glance downriver, toward Atreus"s sunken gold. "He will throw it away on the merest pretext.""Human beings are not wealth," Atreus said. He nodded to Seema. "Tell them. They will row faster knowing they are free men."
"Oh, I see." Seema"s eyes grew sad, but she rose and spoke rapidly in Maran. The slaves began to murmur even louder and cast wary glances at the aft deck.Atreus huddled in his blanket and tried not to look quite so much like a blood-smeared devil.
"Rishi, how do I say she is telling the truth?"
"Ekc"kta reeto."
Atreus repeated the phrase, though he did not come even close to imitatingthe Mar"s strange throat click.
The slaves gasped and looked confused, until someone began jabbering inMaran. The others began to laugh, and suddenly the boat broke into a swirl offrenzied activity, with men rushing forward to serve as pilots while others jumped up to help at the oars.
"What did I say?" Atreus asked."That yaks are very honest," said Rishi, "but I think they understand what youmeant." "It would have been simpler to say it in Realmspeak," Seema added. "Mountain Mar are not ignorant savages, you know.""No, you are not savages at all," said Rishi, pointedly leaving out the word"ignorant."Seema scowled, then knelt down and placed her knees on Rishi"s leg to eitherside of the broken lance. "Will you remove the shaft?" she asked, looking to Atreus. "Pull it straight out, the quicker the better."
Rishi twisted around, his eyes wide with fear. "Quicker? Wait one*"
Atreus grabbed the shaft and pulled, removing it in one smooth motion. Rishihowled in pain, and dark blood began to bubble from the wound. Seema stuffeda rolled bandage into the hole, causing the Mar so much pain that he pounded the deck and twisted around to glare at her.
"You are a depraved mountain witch!" he screamed, "to inflict such pain and enjoy it!"
"The lance had to come out." Seema sprinkled white dust on the hole, drawinganother sharp hiss from Rishi. "This will prevent the wound from festering.""Succubus!"
Recalling the numbing powder Seema had used on his wound, Atreus said toRishi, "Perhaps it would hurt less if you showed more grat.i.tude."
The Mar whirled toward Atreus. "You dare speak to me of grat.i.tude? You, whosepromise is not worth a yak?"
"I won"t argue this again," said Atreus. "Gold means nothing to a drowned man."
"You are a liar and thief. Had you wanted to keep your word, you could havewaited to escape until after Tarch pulled the gold up tomorrow."
Atreus shook his head. "I would have been in shackles by tomorrow, and you would have been killed the instant Tarch had the gold. I did what was best for all of us.Now, I am done discussing this."
"And I am done with you. I have seen the way you repay those who serve you!"Rishi would not hold still for Seema to bandage his leg as he continued to rant, "You would rather let. Yago lose himself in the swamp than spend a single night in shackles!"
"Watch your tongue," Atreus warned. "If Yago is alive, he"ll find us. If he isn"t... I want to hear nothing about it from you.""Oh, you cannot hide behind the memory of Yago," Rishi sneered. "It is no secretto me what happens when a pretty slave girl smiles at someone like you."
Atreus raised his brow. "Someone like me?" he asked, insulted. Atreus was trembling with anger, perhaps because there was more than a little truth in Rishi"svenom. "What, exactly, do you think someone like me feels when a beautiful womansmiles at him?"
Without awaiting a reply, Atreus rose and started forward.
"Do not come tomorrow and beg me to be your guide," Rishi called after him. "I do not take fools on fable-chases for free, you know!"Atreus bit back a furious reply, slipped past the rowers who were working twomen to an oar and propelling the barge along at a surprisingly brisk pace and wentup to the bow. The Mar lookouts greeted him with nervous smiles and gave him a wide berth, which was just as well in his current mood. He laid down on the edge ofthe deck and cupped the dark river water in his hands and began to wash the bloodfrom his devil"s face.
When he finished, he found Seema waiting with her lamp and tray of potions. "Wewere not finished," she said. "I must tend your wounds, or you will be in no condition to flee Tarch tomorrow."
Atreus laid down on his side. "I"m sorry for the things Rishi said," he told her. "Ican see for myself that your people are not ignorant."
"They are only words," Seema replied, then knelt beside him and pulled aside his cloak. The needle and thread she had been using earlier still dangled from hiswound. "Was he telling the truth? Am I the reason you killed the slavers?"