He roared with triumph as his lingers surrounded the paper-like skin of its throat and began to squeeze, harder and hauler. It scrabbled ineffectually, beating at his huge shoulders to no effect, emitting a stifled whimper of fear.
His hands tightened, breaking bones and crushing its windpipe until the creature moved no more and only then did he see the fear in its eyes. Only then did he look at its face and realise that during the struggle it had become his own face, haunted and afraid, even in death. He released his grip, stumbling backwards in horror from the armoured corpse that lay beneath him. As he retreated he fell, but there was no ground beneath him to stop him, only high banks of earth rising up on either side as he fell deeper and deeper. The light from the fires grew distant as he descended into the darkness of the grave.
Isak flinched, suddenly realising how fast his heart was beating. The dream that afternoon was a new one, wrecking his sleep as he hid from the relentless sunshine in the cellar of the house they had taken. It lingered in his memory even now, several hours after nightfall. He recognised the taste of fear in his mouth, the vivid images in his mind and the ghosts of sensation on his fingertips. This was no ordinary dream; the similarities to his long-standing nightmare about Lord Bahl"s death were all too apparent. Even in the hot night air he could feel Death"s cold touch on his skin. He wondered if this too was prophetic.
"But what does it mean?" he whispered to the night. "How could I have been fighting myself? I died, but the black knight wasn"t there. Is anything set, or has my corrupted destiny now turned me away even from that?"
He wiped a hand across his brow, feeling a slick sheen of sweat under his fingers. They had been in this city less than a day and already he was hating it. Even on the Chetse plains he"d never felt such heat. He didn"t need his Crystal Skulls to tell him that this was far from natural; every fibre of his being told him so. There was magic in the air; a bitter, dirty pall hanging over the city that made his head throb. He felt both light-headed and disembodied, and yet burdened by the weight of the Land. He found himself unable to separate one confused thought from the next and his foul mood only deepened.
He"d snarled at Tila for the crime of asking what was wrong, then found himself unable to say sorry what started as an apology sent her away in tears, Vesna following swiftly behind, his expression thunderous. Only the forlorn look on Major Jachen"s face had spurred him to fix things.
The sound of shuffling feet pierced the miasma of thoughts: some" one shifting in the shadows, just below his own vantage point on a stone walkway that had probably once been part of the old city wail. Isak"s hand went to his side and he wrapped his fingers around the unfamiliar handle of the mace he now carried. Eolis was wrapped in a bundle of cloth and tied securely to his back; they couldn"t risk it being recognised and the sort of mercenary Isak was pretending to be wouldn"t own such a fine weapon.
He eased himself forward and leaned out over the edge of the wall. There was a tense silence in the area tonight. Unless it was just a product of Isak"s own antic.i.p.ation, the locals appeared to be aware that something was going to happen. Whoever was standing below him was the only person Isak had seen all night, other than his own soldiers and the two Brotherhood men who"d told him of King Emin"s plans.
He edged his way out, ready to leap back and strike, when he saw it was just a young man standing there alone. Strangely, he appeared to be looking at the same crumbling old house Isak was. What part do you have to play in this? Isak wondered. Are you working for Emin? If not, what in the name of the Dark Place are you doing watching that house?
Doranei and his companion, introduced as Sebe, had told him the king had personal business with one of the men seen entering that house. Isak had joked at the time that he was attracting trouble again -after all, he"d been in the city but a few hours when he saw Doranei, hurrying back to his master with the news but neither Brother had even smiled, and that spoke volumes. Doranei and Isak had spent more than a week together; Isak considered him a friend. But that afternoon he had been too preoccupied for anything but business, and their sharing of news had been brief, and it had ended almost as soon as Ilumene had been mentioned.
Isak studied the boy leaning against the wall: young, skinny, average height for a youth of fifteen-odd summers. No weapons.
"A strange night to be taking the air," Isak said softly. The boy spun around in alarm, for a moment not seeing Isak"s face and then gasping when he did. "Getting a moment"s peace away from your family?" Isak"s command of the language was not perfect, but it was good enough to be understood.
"No sir," came the sullen reply. Sir, Isak thought with interest, an odd way for a local to speak to a foreigner unless I look older than I think I do.
"Then what are you doing? It"s a bad night to be out."
"Every night is a bad night in Scree," the youth said, "but I think I"m safe on the streets around here. Safer than you, anyway."
Isak gave a grin. "Really? I"d heard this was one of the worst districts for criminals."
"They"re just poor round here, not criminal unless you think being poor is a crime." The youth gave him a defiant look. "But there are criminals out tonight, and they"re the ones I"m waiting for. They don"t much like white-eyes, so if I were you I"d go somewhere else."
Isak thought for a moment. The youth had definitely been watching the house, but as far as Isak could tell, it was a derelict building certainly nothing to interest normal criminals.
"What"s your name?"
"What"s yours?" the youth snapped.
"My name? Ah, Horman," Isak replied. Now why did I say that? That"s not the name I"d agreed with Vesna. What made me think of my father?
"Fine, if you say so. I"m Mayel."
Isak reached out a hand. "Well, Mayel, how about you come up here and tell me all about these criminals." Mayel took a half-pace back as Isak"s ma.s.sive arm loomed forward. "Come on; share a pipe with me."
The promise of tobacco seemed to clinch it for the young man, who took a step forward and grasped Isak"s hand. The white-eye hauled Mayel up without effort and deposited him on the walkway.
"G.o.ds, you"re a big b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Mayel exclaimed when he saw Isak straighten up.
"Easy there, you were calling me "sir" a moment ago."
"Sorry, bad habit," Mayel apologised, not mentioning which was the bad habit. "Just hadn"t expected it; you"re bigger than any white-eye I"ve ever seen."
Isak ignored the point. "What"s that accent I can hear? Are you a local? It sounds like you"ve been educated, but you"re hardly dressed like a merchant"s son."
Mayel plucked at the ragged clothes he had on. "I was a novice at a monastery, I got some learning there. What"s it to you?"
"Just working out who I"m dealing with," Isak replied breezily. "Always best to find out beforehand. Here, help yourself." He offered his pipe and tobacco pouch and Mayel took them with delight.
"So what are you doing out here?" Mayel asked once he"d filled the pipe and lit it. "Have you enlisted with Mistress Ostia"s army?"
"No, we"re escorting someone, some lord"s mistress." Tila had insisted on accompanying them and Isak hadn"t been able to dissuade her. He knew he wouldn"t hear the end of forbidding it outright, so in the end, he"d agreed that the White Circle would likely not harm a woman, and accepted her suggestion that she play the lordly wh.o.r.e being escorted by mercenaries in these troubled times.
"One of those White Circle b.i.t.c.hes?"
"Probably," Isak grinned. "You should be careful what you say about them in strange company though."
"Ah, you"re not tied to them. I hear the only white-eyes the Circle have are ones they trot around on leashes. They don"t speak or p.i.s.s without permission from their mistress."
That drove the smile from Isak"s face. He"d come close to becoming little more than a pet of the Queen of the Fysthrall. Wondering how his life would have turned out if she"d succeeded was a sobering thought. As far as they could tell, he"d have been made to march his armies all the way to Tir Duria and lay siege to that fortress city, costing tens of thousands of lives. It would probably have been the ruin of the Farlan nation in the process.
"So who does your mistress belong to? Someone powerful?" Mayel asked, enjoying the pipe enough to not have noticed Isak"s changed mood.
"Don"t know. Why do you ask?"
Mayel suddenly looked apprehensive. "I"ve been away for a few years," he said, hunching his shoulder. "I"m still working out who the people with power are."
"I don"t think he"s anyone very powerful, just a man who"s very fond of his pretty mistress." Isak pictured Count Vesna and almost smiled again. The man had looked constantly anxious since they had met up again on the border. He and his band of soldiers were bloodied and grim, drained by the weeks fighting Duke Vrerr"s cause. The reunion had been muted, and since then Vesna had rarely left Tila"s side.
Isak gestured towards the unlit house. "So why don"t you tell me why your criminal friends are interested in that house?"
"Why should I? What are you doing here?"
"Watching out for a friend. He has business with someone in that house."
Mayel frowned. "What sort of business?"
"A personal dispute."
"And you"re just sitting here watching?"
"It"s personal," Isak replied gravely. "If he wanted my help he would ask, but he won"t need it."
"He will once my cousin"s men arrive," Mayel blurted out. "They"ve also got business there, and you don"t want to get in their way."
Isak c.o.c.ked his head to one side. "Now what sort of business could they have with that house?"
"People have been disappearing in the city; we hear it"s got something to do with the man who lives in that house. My cousin runs this district and he doesn"t like madmen preying on his people; he"s going to have a look around that house and see what"s there."
Isak stared at the house. It was completely dark, and silent; he couldn"t even see any movement within the grounds. That struck him as a little odd; while Doranei hadn"t explained fully what was going on, Isak would have expected anyone the king was interested in to have posted guards, or at least to inspect the grounds once or twice. He"d been watching a good while now, and he"d have guessed the house was deserted.
Emin would soon be making his move, then they would see just how dead it was around here.
To be on the safe side, Isak reached down and picked up a couple of small stones lying near his foot. Ignoring Mayel"s curious expression, he tossed them over his shoulder and they pattered away into the darkness. Within a matter of heartbeats, Major Jachen was crouched down at Isak"s side, betraying no surprise at the presence of the young stranger.
"Where are the others?"
"I sent most back to the house with the tart," Jachen replied, keeping in role. "I know what you"re like for getting into trouble, so I kept Leshi, Tiniq and Jeil with me."
Isak grinned. Lesarl had added the rangers Leshi and Tiniq to his party. They were Ascet.i.tes, men whose latent talent for magic had never developed, but instead they had natural and learned skills pushed beyond normal limits. The pair were as stealthy as Mihn and almost as quick and strong as the white-eyes of the Palace Guard. Tiniq was the twin of a white-eye, General Lahk, which was apparently impossible, while Leshi had the remarkable ability to be able to stand so perfectly still that he faded into to the shadows. In a forest, even another ranger could walk within a few yards of the man and never see him.
With the losses to Isak"s personal guard and the great danger posed by entering Scree with so few soldiers, it had been prudent to fill the gaps with more unnatural troops. In addition to a squat, bearded battle-mage who"d introduced himself as Mariq and said nothing else since to Isak, there was a knight from Torl whose remarkable skill with a bow meant he too had to be an Ascet.i.te, and Shinir, one of Lesarl"s female agents, who had only a loose relationship with gravity whenever climbing was necessary she was also the most spiteful and unforgiving woman Isak had ever met.
Their addition had already provided one unexpected bonus. As they were trying to work out how Mariq and Isak would get past the White Circle mage attending the gate, their Ascet.i.tes had gone through, and their strange abilities had so thoroughly confused the mage that she"d developed a migraine and abandoned her post, leaving Isak free to walk straight in.
"Tell them to keep their eyes open," Isak said, pointing down the empty road leading towards the heart of the city. "I have a bad feeling about all this; tell them to be ready to raise the alarm."
Mikiss sat in the broken chair and sank slowly into its cushioned back. They were in the cellars of the house, a damp, cramped network of rooms that served as home for Isherin Purn and his servant Nai. The smell of mould and stone was overlaid by the scent of dead vegetation and dank earth which crept in through a grille near the ceiling. There was no one else around as far as Mikiss could tell, but he couldn"t shake off the feeling that they were not entirely alone. A presence seemed to linger in the dim corridors and gently creaking rooms above; Mikiss knew nothing about necromancers and had no wish to, but his imagination was producing any number of alarming ideas.
"What you thinking about, sir?" Shart asked from opposite Mikiss. "You"re looking kinda spooked over there."
"Aren"t you? You do remember what our host"s calling entails?"
"Sure," Shart chuckled.
"And you don"t find it at all unnerving?"
The soldier grinned, chiefly out of amus.e.m.e.nt at Mikiss" discomfort, "Of course all this daemon c.r.a.p is weird, but you serve in the Cheme Third and you get used to it after a while."
Mikiss had guessed as much from the stories they had told him on the journey north. The Cheme Third Legion was Lord Styrax"s favourite, made up of men he trusted above even the Bloods worn and the Reavers.
"Also," Major Amber growled from the corner of the room, a brown earthenware bottle clamped firmly in his lap, "the whole stench-of-death thing becomes familiar enough when you serve in the Third. Us three have holed up together with a nice pile of corpses keeping us warm before; had to, else we"d have been caught and spitted." His eyes were fixed on the bottle in front of him; from the way the man had been pulling on it, Mikiss guessed it was almost empty. "You watch a man you know go through various stages of decomposition and death becomes just another comrade."
Mikiss watched the oil lamps flicker. They were turned low, just enough for him to make out the lines and corners of the room. The door to the room was open, in the vain hope of a breeze; from where Mikiss was sitting he could see the dim light from the cramped kitchen where Nai was preparing something for his master. Somewhere beyond that, sheathed in shadow, was the door to Isherin Purn"s study, a room Mikiss never wanted to see inside.
"Karkarn"s horn," Shart exclaimed, "you"re being miserable tonight if you don"t mind me saying so, sir. Stench of death and presence of daemons aside, we"ve got food I can recognise bits of, drink so we don"t care what the rest of the food is, and we can make Keneg sleep in a different room to us. In my book, that puts us well ahead of where we were yesterday."
Ah, this house puts me on edge; this whole d.a.m.n city puts me on edge." The major grimaced. "Don"t any of you feel it?"
"Feel what? All I feel is this heat."
"The..." Amber"s voice tailed off as he gestured vaguely in the air. "I don"t know what it is exactly but there"s something-"
He didn"t get any further as a scream pierced the night air. They all jumped up, scrambling for the weapons they"d left propped against the wall. Mikiss caught himself on the arm of the chair he"d been sitting in and careened into Shart, who ploughed through Mikiss, knocking him out of the way and not missing a step as he went for his axe. From outside they heard men shouting, more than a lew, and deeper sounds Mikiss could not place; sounds that reached down into his gut.
"Shart, keep with Mikiss," Amber snapped. His yellowy eyes glowed in the weak light.
"Prefer to be outside, sir," Shart commented, his eyes not leaving the doorway where Keneg was standing ready with both hands wrapped around the hilt of his brutal sword. "No room to swing in here." Shart hefted his axe, raising it so the head banged against the cellar"s low ceiling. The commotion outside continued, more screams, more shouts. A great hissing began from near the grille, a sibilant rustle of dry leaves and withered skin.
"Fair enough, just keep tight," Major Amber said. "Sounds like Purn"s got some tricks, so don"t go looking for trouble because it might not understand friend or foe. The trapdoor is barred so we go up into the house. You two lead and get to the outside door, see what you can see. We"ll go up a floor and look out over the back. Keep your ears open and don"t stray into the grounds."
The brothers led out into the corridor, past Nai, who was busy mur-muring and making strange gestures over a blank wall. With a start, Mikiss realised that the wall had been the door to Purn"s study only a few moments ago.
The spell completed, Nai turned to face them, a purposeful expres-sion on his face and an iron-tipped club in his hands. "I doubt they will make it to the house," he said with grim certainty, stalking past the soldiers and heading for the stairway that led up into the house. A great yawning groan suddenly cut through the clamour from outside, followed by a pair of heavy thumps, then the shouting came back with renewed intensity.
"That might prove unfortunate," Nai said to no one in particular. The soldiers exchanged glances, but kept silent as they followed him into the old kitchen. The only reminder of the room"s former role was a great iron stove, rusted into uselessness by years of rain sweeping In through the shattered window. Someone had nailed up a lew boards so there was no gap large enough for a person to climb through, but there were gaps to see a little of outside. As Mikiss trailed in he pulled out his own sword, as much for comfort as anything else.
Nai, peering between boards, said, "Looks like locals. My master"s pels will soon see them off ah, they"re running in all direction". Some are making lor the courtyard."
"Pitchforks and flaming brands?" Shart asked. Nai gave the soldier a deeply unfriendly look as the brothers shared a sn.i.g.g.e.r and barrelled out of the rear door.
Mikiss heard a cry of alarm break off as Keneg roared, then the clash of steel, followed by shrieks.
Major Amber grabbed Mikiss by the shoulder and gave him a shove towards the door. "Come on, then, sir, just your average angry mob. You"ve been trained, they haven"t. Stick close to me and you"ll be fine." There wasn"t time to argue even if Mikiss had dared, as he found himself swept along into the courtyard where Keneg and Shart were facing down half a dozen men. Two more were already down, lying there clutching their wounds and screaming.
Mikiss realised that Amber was right, so he raised his sword and ran at the nearest enemy. Swords took training, clubs didn"t; the man raised his weapon preparing to smash it down on Mikiss, only to find Mikiss" blade buried in his gut. On the right, Amber was wielding his two blades with lethal efficiency, catching a club on one and hacking into his a.s.sailant"s knee with the other, then following that up with a blow to the man"s neck when he fell to the ground, wailing like a child.
Suddenly there was a bright burst of flame. Everyone hesitated, turning to see what had happened.
Mikiss looked around the illuminated grounds and saw men standing in groups wherever there were gaps in the vegetation, wildly fighting off the strange figures a.s.sailing them. One such group was being attacked by three bony, b.l.o.o.d.y figures dressed in rags. They had no weapons that Mikiss could see, but one stopped a club in mid-swing, then swiped a palm across the man"s face with such force the man spun around and collapsed in a heap on top of one of his comrades.
But the weirdness of that little group paled into insignificance next to what was going on in the centre of the grounds, where a creature something like a ma.s.sive hairless bear stood hacking at anyone within reach of the double-headed axes it brandished in each hand. When it had cleared a circle, it leapt, a clear ten yards in one stride, and began again.
Mikiss started shuddering uncontrollably when he caught sight of a man just hanging in the air, flailing madly as unseen claws shredded his flesh and droplets of fresh blood sprayed all around him from severed arteries.
The Menin soldiers ignored the horrific scene, but took advantage of their enemies" momentary distraction to dispatch the last of the men in the courtyard.
"Where has that light come from?" asked Amber angrily, scanning the grounds.
Shart reached out a hand, pointing off to the right. "There, there"s a mage in that bunch."
A large group of men had formed a circle just inside the grounds, and were hewing a path through the injured and dead towards the house. One of the walking corpses burst into flames and blundered away.
"They"re not locals; they"re fighting as a unit," Major Amber sud denly announced. The foreigners were now providing the only serious a.s.sault on the grounds; everyone else was dead or dying.
When Mikiss saw someone point towards them, he opened his mouth, ready to shout. But he closed his mouth in horror as a nearby bush started shaking violently, then lashed out with supernaturally long branches to envelop the man who"d pointed. A shadow crossed die still-hovering light and the branches slewed sideways and grabbed the man beside him instead, tugging the helpless figure into the body ol (be bush. Three of the attackers ran forward to help their comrade, but branches whipped at their faces and drove them back.
"The master will be pleased," Nai commented brightly as the at-lackers struggled in vain to save the man, but all too soon it was over as, with one last shuddering moan, the man fell silent and the bush stopped shaking. Someone called out something, and in the next instant the bush burst into purple flames and an unholy howl echoed through the air.
"What the h.e.l.l was that?" Shart asked.
"Just one of the master"s pet projects," Nai said airily. "We hadn"t had a chance to test it properly before."
"They"re a determined lot, I must say," the major remarked, "and as it doesn"t look like your defences are going to stop them, and we don"t have the numbers, we should get back inside."
The foreign unit was inching its way towards the house, hampered at every turn by the new horrors springing up. The giant creature had killed every man in its vicinity, and now it turned towards the remaining group. The bright flare left Mikiss" eyes watering as he tried to make it out, but all he could be sure ol was the dark skin, a ma.s.s of criss-crossing scars and tattoos, a low-hanging jaw with unusually sharp canine teeth, and horns that curled forward past its eyes.
"Come on, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d," Amber growled, grabbing Mikiss by the arm and dragging him back inside. "Shart, check the other side of the house; let me know if there"s anyone out there as well. Nai, your master had better get more involved or we"re in trouble. There must be more than one mage out there."