"Wait," ordered Kasai, studying the approaching rider. The man was dressed in black, a dark fur- lined cloak slung across his shoulders. There was dried blood on his face. The rider saw them and angled his horse towards the waiting group. Kasai saw no sign of fear in the man.
"Fine horse," said Kasai, as the man pulled back on the reins.
"Better than the man I killed to get him," said the rider, his dark eyes scanning the group. He seemed amused, which angered Kasai.
"It is a horse worth killing for," he said pointedly, hand on his sword-hilt.
"True," agreed the rider. "But the question you must ask yourself is, whether he is worth dying for."
"We are five, you are one."
"Wrong. One and one. You and I. For when the action begins I will kill you within the first heartbeat." The words were spoken with a quiet certainty that swept over Kasai"s confidence like a winter wind.
"You dismiss my brothers so easily?" he said, trying to re-establish the fact that they outnumbered the southerner.
The rider laughed and swung his gaze over the other men. "I never dismiss any Nadir lightly. I"ve fought too many in the past. Now it seems you have two choices; you can fight, or we can ride to your camp and eat."
"Let us kill him," said Chulai, slipping into the Nadir tongue.
"It will be the last move you make, dung-brain," said the rider, in perfect Nadir.
Chulai half-drew his sword, but Kasai ordered him back. "How do you know our tongue?" he enquired.
"Do we eat or fight?" countered the man.
"We eat. We offer you the hospitality of the tent. Now, how do you know our tongue?"
"I have travelled among the Nadir for many years, both as friend and enemy. My name is Waylander, though I have other names among the people of the tents."
Kasai nodded. "I have heard of you, Oxskull - you are a mighty warrior. Follow me, and you will have the food you desire." Kasai wheeled his pony and galloped towards the north. Chulai cast a murderous glance at the Drenai and then followed.
Two hours later they were seated around a burning brazier within a tall, goatskin tent.
Waylander was sitting cross-legged upon a rug, Kasai before him. Both men had dined from a communal bowl of curdled cheese and shared a clay goblet of strong spirit.
"What brings you to the steppes, Oxskull?"
"I seek Kesa Khan of the Wolves."
Kasai nodded. "His death has been long overdue."
Waylander chuckled. "I am not here to kill him, but to help him survive."
"It cannot be true!"
"I a.s.sure you that it is. My daughter and my friends are with him now - or so I hope."
Kasai was amazed. "Why? What are the Wolves to you? We still talk of Kesa Khan"s magic and the werebeasts he sent to kill you. Why would you help him?"
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," answered Waylander. "There is a man who serves the Emperor. He is the enemy I wish to see slain."
"Zhu Chao! May the G.o.ds curse his soul until the stars burn out! Aye, a good enemy, that one.
But you are too late to help the Wolves. The Gothir have already begun their attack upon the mountain stronghold. There is no way through."
"I will find a way."
Kasai nodded and drained the last of the spirit, refilling the goblet from a jug beside him. He offered it to Waylander, who drank sparingly. "My people are the Tall Spears. We are enemies of the Wolves. Lifelong - and before that. But I do not want to see the Gothir destroy them. I wish to be the man who drives a blade into Anshi Chen. I wish to cut the head from Belash. I wish to drag out the heart of Kesa Khan. Such pleasures are not for some round-eyed, stone-dwelling pig to enjoy."
"How many men do you have here?"
"Fighting men? Six hundred."
"Perhaps you should consider aiding the Wolves."
"Pah! My tongue would turn black and all my ancestors turn their backs upon me when I entered the Vale of Rest. No, I shall not aid them, but I will aid you. I will give you food and, if you wish, a guide. There are other routes into the Mountains."
"I thank you, Kasai."
"It is nothing. If you do find Kesa Khan, tell him why I helped you."
"I"ll do that. Tell me, do you dream of the day the Uniter will come?"
"Of course, what Nadir does not?"
"How do you see him?"
"He will be of the Tall Spears, that is certain."
"And how will he unite the Nadir?"
Kasai smiled. "Well, first he will obliterate the Wolves, and all other treacherous tribes."
"Suppose the Uniter is not of the Tall Spears. Suppose he is of the Wolves?"
"Impossible."
"He"ll need to be a rare man," said Waylander.
"Let"s drink to that," said Kasai, pa.s.sing the goblet.
Wrapped in his cloak, his head resting on his saddle, Waylander lay on the rug, listening to the night winds howling outside the tent. On the far side of the brazier Kasai was sleeping, his two wives on either side of him, his children close by. Waylander was tired, but sleep would not come.
Rolling on to his back he gazed up at the smoke drifting through the hole in the tent roof, watching the wind swirl it away. He could see three stars, high in the night sky. He closed his eyes.
And remembered the day he had fought to protect the Armour of Bronze. The Nadir had come for him, but these he had slain. Then the last of the wolf-beasts had stalked him. Two bolts through the brain had finally ended the terror. Wounded and alone he had dragged himself from the cave - only to face the Knights of the Brotherhood. These he could not defeat, but Durmast the giant, treacherous Durmast, had arrived to save him, giving his life for a man he had planned to betray.
Waylander sighed. So many dead. Durmast, Gellan, Danyal, Krylla ... And always the wars - conquest and battle, defeat and despair. Where does it end, he thought. With the grave? Or do the battles go on?
Kasai was snoring now. Waylander heard him grunt as one of his wives nudged him. Opening his eyes he gazed across the tent. The brazier was burning low, a soft red glow filling the interior.
Kasai had a family. He had made a gift to the future. He was loved.
Waylander turned to his side, facing away from the Nadir leader. Once more he tried for sleep, but this time he saw Dardalion, tied to the tree, his flesh sliced and bleeding, the men around him laughing and mocking.
That was the day Waylander"s world had changed. He had rescued the priest, then been drawn into the eternal battle, Light against Dark, Harmony against Chaos. And he had met Danyal. He groaned and rolled again, his body weary, muscles aching.
Stop dwelling on the past, he told himself. Think about tomorrow. Just tomorrow. He would find a way into the Mountains of the Moon. He would stand beside Miriel and Angel and do that which he did best. He would fight.
He would kill.
Sleep took him by surprise, and his soul drifted into darkness.
The walls were clammy, the corridor dark and claustrophobic. Waylander blinked and tried to remember how he had come here. It was so hard to concentrate. Was he looking for something?
Someone?
There were no doors or windows, just this endless tunnel. Cold water was soaking through his boots as he waded on.
I am lost, he thought.
There was no source of light, and yet he could see.
Stairs. Must look for stairs. Fear touched him, but he suppressed it ruthlessly. Stay calm! Think!
He moved on. Something white caught his eye on the far wall. There was an alcove there. Splashing across the streaming water he saw a skeleton, rusty chains holding it to the wall. The ligaments and tendons had not yet rotted and the thing was intact, save for the left leg, which had parted at the knee. Something moved within the ribcage and Waylander saw two rats had made a nest there.
"Welcome," said a voice. Waylander stepped back in shock. The head was no longer a skull but a handsome face, framed in golden hair. It smiled at him. Waylander"s heart was beating wildly and he reached for his crossbow. Only then did he realise he was weaponless. "Welcome to my home,"
said the handsome head.
"I am dreaming!"
"Perhaps," agreed the head. A rat pushed its way through the gaping ribcage and sprang to a nearby shelf of stone.
"Where is this place?" asked Waylander.
The head laughed, the sound echoing away into the tunnel. "Well, let us think ... Does it look to you like paradise?"
"No."
"Then it must be somewhere else. But one mustn"t complain, must one? It is pleasant to have a visitor after so long. The rats are company, of course, but their conversation is rather limited."
"How do I get out of here?"
The head smiled, and Waylandersaw the pale eyes widen, a gleam of triumph showing there.
Waylander spun. A sword lunged for his throat. Swaying aside he slammed his fist into a face out of nightmare. His a.s.sailant fell back into the water, but rose swiftly. He looked like a man, save that his skin was scaled, his eyes huge and set, like a fish, on either side of his head. He had no nose, merely slits in the skin of his face, and his mouth was shaped like an inverted V, lipless and rimmed with fangs.
The creature leapt forward. Waylander reached out, his fingers curling around one of the skeletons ribs, and snapping it clear. The sword slashed down. Waylander sidestepped the blow and rammed the broken rib into the creature"s chest. Dropping the sword it let out a terrible howl.
And disappeared.
Waylander scooped up the sword and swung back to the skeleton. The handsome head was no longer visible. The rotting skull sagged against the vertebrae and toppled into the murky water.
Sword in hand Waylander moved on, every sense alert.
The tunnel widened and he saw an arch of stone and a path leading to a stairwell. An old man was sitting on the first stair. His robes were old and covered in mildew and mould. In his hands was a sphere of transparent crystal, a white light shining at the centre.
Waylander approached him.
"This is your soul," said the old man, holding up the crystal. "If I drop it, or break it, or crush it, you will never leave here. You will wander these tunnels for eternity. Go back the way you have come."
"I wish to climb those stairs, old man. Step aside."
"One step towards me and your soul perishes!" warned the old man, holding the crystal high.
Waylander sprang forward, his sword smashing through the crystal, sending glittering shards to the water. The old man fell back. "How did you know?" he moaned.
"My soul is my own," answered Waylander. The old man vanished.
And the stairs beckoned.
Waylander edged forward. The stairwell walls shimmered with a faintly green light, the stairs glistening as if oiled. He took a long deep breath then ventured on to the first step. Then the second.
Arms swept out from the walls, hooked fingers and talons reaching for him. The sword slashed down, hacking through a scaled wrist. Fingers grabbed at his black leather tunic. Tearing himself free he forced his way up the stairwell, the sword-blade hacking a path through the writhing, questing limbs.
At the top of the stairs was a square landing. There were two doors, one edged with gold and part-open, the other guarded by a huge three-headed serpent, whose coils rose up around the frame. The part-open door showed a shaft of sunlight, warm and welcoming, beckoning the man.
Waylander ignored it, his eyes fixed to the serpent. Its mouths were cavernous, each showing twin fangs more than a foot long. Venom dripped from them, splashing to the stone of the landing, bubbling and hissing.
A figure in a robe of light appeared at the part-open door. "Come this way. Quickly!" said the figure, a friendly-faced man with white hair and kindly blue eyes. "Come to the light!" Waylander moved towards him, as if to comply, but once close enough he reached out, pulling the man forward by his robes, then hurling him at the serpent. Two of the heads darted forward, the first closing on the man"s shoulder, the second sinking its fangs into his leg. The victim"s screams filled the air.
As Waylander leapt past the struggling man the third head lunged down. Waylander"s sword smote it in the eye. Black blood bubbled from the wound and the head withdrew. Throwing his shoulder against the door Waylander felt the wood give way, and he fell into a wide hall. Rolling to his feet he saw a man waiting for him, sword in hand.
It was Morak.
"No dying dog to save you now!" said the dead a.s.sa.s.sin.
"I don"t need help for the likes of you," Waylander told him. "You were nothing then. You are less than nothing now."
Morak"s face twisted and he ran to the attack. Waylander sidestepped, parried the lunge then sent a riposte that almost tore Morak"s head from his neck. The a.s.sa.s.sin staggered then righted himself, his head hanging at an obscene angle.
"How do you kill a dead man?" he mocked. Morak attacked again. Waylander parried and once more chopped at the gashed neck. The head fell to the floor, but the body continued its a.s.sault.