"Why do you think?"
"I haven"t a clue, Gambion."
"Then I can"t explain it to you."
"I mean, what do you get out of it?"
Gambion leaned on his shovel, his heavy face showing signs of strain. He scratched his thick black beard and thought for a moment. "I joined Cade a lot of years ago, and I never thought too much about what we were. Then G.o.d spoke to Cade and I realized it"s not too late to change. It"s never too late. Now I"m part of G.o.d"s Army and I"m not going back. Not for plunder, nor Barta coin, nor G.o.dd.a.m.ned h.e.l.lborn. Daniel says to stand here, so here I"ll stand. They can send men, beasts or demons, but they won"t pa.s.s Ephram Gambion - not as long as there"s life in this old body. That make it clear to you, farmer?"
"It"s clear, Ephram, but would you mind a suggestion?"
"Not at all."
"Dig a second trench up there, and put a few men in it. That way, if you are overrun they can give you covering fire while you withdraw."
Gambion followed the direction and saw a natural screen of rocks and undergrowth rising some twenty feet above their present position.
"You"ve a good eye, son. We"ll do it."
"How"s your man Peck?"
Gambion shrugged. "He went and died on me. But that"s life, isn"t it?"
"It"s not an easy life in G.o.d"s Army, Ephram."
"Not by a long haul. We"ve no time for shirkers."
"You mind if I get some sleep?"
"You go right ahead."
Ja.n.u.s left them and wandered on. He was hungry and ate some dried fruit before settling back into his blankets.
The day pa.s.sed without incident, but just before noon on the second day, three hundred h.e.l.lborn riders entered the canyon. The man on watch, a youngster named Gibson, ran to fetch Gambion. Ja.n.u.s came with him.
They"re not just scouting," said Ja.n.u.s. They"re looking for something."
"I agree," muttered Gambion. "I"ll get the men set."
"How are you going to place them?"
"Fifteen in the two trenches, the rest with us here."
"A suggestion?"
"Go ahead."
They won"t be geared to charge straight away and they"ll probably ride in slowly the first time. Put every man we have overlooking the entrance - that way we"ll hit them hard. The next time we"ll have men in the trenches for when they really put the spurs in."
Gambion chewed his lip for a while, then he nodded. "Sounds good."
He spread the men evenly across the pa.s.s, telling them not to fire until he did, but then to pour it on like there was no tomorrow. Afterwards he returned to squat beside Ja.n.u.s as the h.e.l.lborn moved across the canyon.
Within the hour a scout had discovered the cleft and was riding through it while the main body of hors.e.m.e.n waited outside. The Yeager men kept their heads down as the dark- armoured rider mounted the first slope. If he rode much further he would come in sight of the trenches, but he stopped and removed his helm. He was young, about the same age as Ja.n.u.s, and from where Gambion lay he could see that his eyes were blue. The rider wheeled his horse and rode back to the canyon and the h.e.l.lborn began to move. Gambion pumped a sh.e.l.l into the breech and waited, his mouth dry. Beside him, Ja.n.u.s nestled the rifle stock into his shoulder and took a deep breath, willing himself to relax. With half the riders inside, Gambion sighted on the leader and took in the slack on the trigger.
"Not yet," whispered Ja.n.u.s and Gambion froze. The h.e.l.lborn moved on, and Gambion could hear the laughter from some of the riders who were obviously sharing a joke.
"Now," said Ja.n.u.s. Gambion"s rifle thudded back against his shoulder and then he was up on his knees pumping shot after shot into the rearing, bucking ranks of the enemy. The pa.s.s was alive with gunfire as rider after rider was swept from the saddle. Horses went down screaming, and the h.e.l.lborn turned and galloped from the pa.s.s. Volleys swept through them and then there was silence. Gambion rose to charge down the slope, but Ja.n.u.s grabbed his arm. They"re not all dead. Get the men to hold back."
"Back to your positions!" yelled Gambion.
Most of the men obeyed him, but one youngster -oblivious to the commands - raced down the slope. A fallen h.e.l.lborn rolled and fired his pistol at point-blank range and the youngster stopped dead, gripping his belly. A second shot exploded his head. Ja.n.u.s lifted his rifle and killed the h.e.l.lborn.
Outside the pa.s.s Alik regrouped his men. He knew he should lead them straight back, but fear gnawed at him and he dithered. He did not want to risk such slaughter again so swiftly.
"How many lost?" he asked his deputy, Terbac.
The man cantered his horse along the line, returning some minutes later. "Fifty-nine, sir."
"We"ll go in on foot."
"With respect, a charge could carry us past them."
"On foot, I said."
"Yes, sir."
The men dismounted and tethered their horses.
Back in the pa.s.s Ja.n.u.s watched them, his brow furrowed.
"They"re coming in again," he said, "but without horses."
"What are they playing at?" asked Gambion.
They probably mean to secure the entrance and push forward slowly."
"Can they do it?"
"It"s possible, but unlikely. Move the men on the far side about thirty paces to the right."
Gambion shouted his orders and the men moved into position.
"What now?"
"Now we wait, and take as many as we can. If they"ve got sense, they"ll wait till nightfall.
But I don"t think they will."
The first h.e.l.lborn reached the cleft and ran for the rocks ... He didn"t make it.
But the third did, and that gave the enemy a chance to return fire. Gambion crept along the ridge and shot dead the marksman. The h.e.l.lborn retreated back to the canyon.
Gambion moved back alongside Ja.n.u.s, looking at him expectantly. The young man knew then that the command had pa.s.sed to him and he grinned ruefully.
"Ask your G.o.d for a cloudless night," he said.
"I"ll do that. But what if it isn"t?"
"A man will have to stay down there - someone with sharp ears."
"I"ll do it."
"You"re the leader, you can"t do it."
"You"re the leader here, Ja.n.u.s. I"m not too pigheaded to see that."
"But your men don"t know that. Send someone else."
"All right. You don"t think they"ll come again today?"
"Not with any serious intent. I think we struck lucky, Ephram. I think there is a coward leading them."
"You call being outnumbered ten to one lucky?"
"It"s only eight to one now - and, yes, I"d call that lucky. If they"d started with a charge they could have cut through us and been on their way into Yeager by now."
"Well, you keep on out-thinking them, son, and I"ll be for ever in your debt."
"I"ll do my best, big man."
Two days out from Castlemine, having found a gap in the mountains that allowed them to move west, Shannow and Batik found themselves in a cool valley edged with spruce and pine.
They stopped at the sh.o.r.es of a lake that sheltered beneath tall peaks and watered their horses. Shannow had said little since they had buried Archer and Batik had left him to his solitude.
As the afternoon drew on, Batik saw a rider bearing down on them from the west. He stood and shaded his eyes against the falling sun and as the rider neared, Batik"s eyes widened in shock.
"Shannow!"
"I see him."
"It"s Archer!"
"It can"t be."
The rider approached and slid from the saddle. He was a black man, over six feet tall and wearing the same style of grey shirt that Archer had sported.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said. "I take it you are Shannow?"
"Yes. This is Batik."
"I am pleased to see you. My name is Lewis, Jonathan Lewis. I have been sent to guide you in."
"In to where?" asked Batik.
"Into the Ark," he replied.
"You are one of the Guardians?" asked Batik unnecessarily.
"Indeed I am."
"Archer is dead," said Shannow, "but then you knew that."
"Yes, Mr Shannow. But you made his pa.s.sing more easy and for that we are grateful. He was a fine man."
"I see you are armed," said Batik, pointing to the flapped scabbard at Lewis" waist.
"Yes. Samuel could never see the point. . ." He did not need to finish his sentence. "Shall we go?"
They followed Lewis for more than two hours, turning into a wide canyon flanked by black basaltic rock.
Ahead of them lay another ruined city, larger than the first they had found before meeting Archer. But it was not the city which caused the breath to catch in Shannow"s throat. Five hundred feet above the marble ruins lay a golden ship, glowing in the dying sunlight.
"Is it truly the Ark?" whispered Shannow.
"No, Mr Shannow," said Lewis, "though many have taken it to be so, and in the main we do not disenchant them."
The trio rode into the ruins, along an overgrown cobbled street to the foot of the mountain.
Here Lewis dismounted, beckoning the others to follow. He led his horse to the rock and stopped to turn a small handle set within it. A section of the rock face then moved sideways leaving a rectangular doorway seven feet high and twelve feet wide. Lewis entered, Shannow and Batik leading their horses behind. Two men waited within the tunnel; they took the horses and Lewis led Shannow and Batik to a steel doorway which slid open to reveal a small room, four feet square and seven feet high. With the three men inside, the door whispered shut.
"Level Twenty," said Lewis and the room shuddered.
"What"s happening here?" asked Batik, alarmed.
"Wait for a moment, Batik. All will be well."
The door opened once more, this time to a bright hallway, and Shannow stepped out. It was lighter than day here, yet there were no windows. All along the walls were glowing tubes; when Shannow reached up and touched one, it was faintly warm.
"You must have many Stones to produce this much magic," said Shannow.
"We do indeed, Mr Shannow. Follow me."
Another door opened before them and the three men entered a round room at the centre of which was a white desk in the shape of a crescent moon. Behind it sat a white-haired man, who stood and smiled at their approach. More than six-feet-six tall, his skin was golden, his eyes slanted and dark. His hair was long, sweeping out from the scalp like a lion"s mane.
Lewis bowed. "My Lord Sarento, the men you wished to meet."
Sarento moved around the table and approached Shannow.