Balestone (10 page)

Tiberius smelled the rank odor of burning hair. The dog yelped and dashed away, but the shaggy hair was on fire, and Tiberius saw the dog now glowing as its coat burned, bounding away through the dark streets.

The three remaining dogs were wary but still menacing. Tiberius snatched up his spear and had just turned back around to defend himself when a long, high-pitched whistle sounded. The dogs stopped growling and looked up. Tiberius couldn’t imagine what they were seeing, but they raced off together.

“Damn,” Rafe said. “That was close. Are you okay?”

Tiberius nodded his head, still trying to see what had called off the dogs. Rafe grabbed the other spear and then uncoiled Ti’s whip from the dog’s neck.

“You saved me from this one,” Rafe said. “Here’s your whip.”

Tiberius took the whip and coiled it up quickly, tying it with the little leather thong that held the whip to his belt.

“Who do you think called off those dogs?” Rafe went on.

Tiberius was still trying to catch his breath. “I don’t know, but I imagine we’ll find out soon enough.”

“You think they’re coming after us?”

“I guess that depends on whether or not they mean us harm,” Tiberius said. “Either way, I don’t like the idea of meeting anyone in the dark.”

“Let’s move inside,” Rafe said.

He picked up a few of the burning pieces of wood and carried them into the building. Tiberius stepped back into the shadows of the doorway but remained there with his spear. He was tempted to cast his cloaking spell and search out the person who had whistled for the dogs, but he wouldn’t be able to see them in the dark. It seemed unlikely that anyone could be moving through the city at night without light of some kind, but Tiberius could not see even a spark of light anywhere.

Rafe kindled the pile of wood that Lexi had carried into the building. Tiberius glanced over his shoulder and saw the interior of the building. The walls were smooth, just like the outside of the building, but there were pegs where paintings or tapestries had been hung. The furniture was covered in dirt and broken down. Tiberius guessed that, if worse came to worse, they could probably burn some of it.

“Is there another way in here?” Tiberius asked.

“Yes,” Rafe said. A door in the back is missing, and there are more windows in the other rooms.”

He wanted to curse but he knew it wouldn’t help. He turned his attention back to the street. It was so dark and yet, somehow, Tiberius knew that someone was watching him. He could feel their gaze, the way a child feels when they are pretending to study and their tutor is glaring at them from across the room.

“Someone’s coming,” Lexi said.

Tiberius looked over at her. In the light of the fire, her face looked orange. Her eyes were closed, and her brow was furrowed. Olyva was holding onto her. Tiberius realized she was seeing what Dancer saw, and there was nothing more he could do but wait for whomever was coming out of the darkness to reveal themselves.

Chapter 12

When the dogs attacked, Lexi had watched in horror from the darkness of the building. She couldn’t take her eyes from the blazing fire in front of the building where Rafe and Tiberius were fighting. Ti’s whip cracked like lightning, and Dancer grabbed hold of Lexi’s hair and trilled urgently.

Tearing her eyes away from Tiberius, Lexi grabbed the little creature and flung it up into the air. There was no wind for the animal to catch inside the building, but Lexi had tossed it high enough for the little creature to scramble onto the roof through the hole at the corner of the building. Lexi tried desperately to see Dancer, but it was just too dark. She looked back out at Rafe and Tiberius in time to see Ti save Rafe from a dog’s attack by choking it with his whip.

“Should we do something?” Lexi asked, her hand on the hilt of her Wangorian dagger.

“We would only be in the way,” Olyva said, her voice barely above a whisper.

The two women joined hands in the darkness, both watching as the men fought desperately to fend off the dogs. Lexi gasped as Tiberius flung one of the dogs into the fire. The wretched creature’s yelps made the hair on her arms and neck stand out stiffly. Lexi’s nature was to run from danger, but she was in a completely foreign place. She wasn’t afraid of the dark, but without some knowledge of her surroundings, she would just be fumbling around in the darkness. And she would have to abandon Tiberius if she fled, so she held her nerves in check and stayed with Olyva.

When Rafe came in and lit the wood on fire in the corner of the room, Lexi immediately felt better. She and Olyva moved closer to the warm flames, although Olyva was careful to keep Lexi between herself and the fire. Then Lexi felt the tell-tale buzz in her head that signaled Dancer’s attempt to show her what the little animal could see from high in the air. Lexi closed her eyes and immediately saw the shadowy city.

Dancer must have leaped from the rooftop and caught an updraft. The view that Lexi saw was from high above the city. She could see the buildings below her. There was no color, just varying shades of gray, but it was enough. A speck of fire burned far down a narrow alley, and Lexi realized it was the dog that Tiberius had flung into the burning pile of wood in front of their shelter. It would have been nearly impossible to know which building she and the others were hidden in if not for the fire burning just outside the door. And then Lexi saw a shadow moving slowly down the street. The movement was strange, more of a lurch than a walk, but it was clear to see that the thing moving toward them was a person.

“Someone’s coming,” Lexi said, but she didn’t open her eyes until the man was almost in the circle of firelight.

She looked desperately around the city. There was movement, but none of it was close. There were shadows, some big, some small, slinking through the streets. Lexi realized that the city was not abandoned, it just wasn’t home to humans anymore.

As Lexi opened her eyes, she blinked in the light of the fire, and then a man appeared in the street. He wore a long robe made from mismatched animal skins. Olyva’s hand tightened on Lexi’s arm. Neither girl breathed as they watched Tiberius step through the door. The fire separated the two men. The newcomer had a long beard, and although he was bald on top of his head, a ring of thin, greasy hair hung down from around his ears. His skin looked dark in the firelight, but Lexi guessed it was dark from dirt not exposure.

“Guests, we have guests at last,” the man said in a strangely high-pitched voice.

“Who are you?” Tiberius said.

“Many names, I go by many names. I am King Gunderlyn, ruler of Devonyr.”

The man waved his hands around at the ruined city.

“I’m also the Keeper, Guardian of the Passes, and Pathfinder through the Barrier Mountains.”

“We aren’t looking for trouble,” Tiberius said. “We just wanted to take shelter for the night.”

“No trouble, no trouble,” Gunderlyn said. “I called off the dogs. They’re zealous defenders of my great kingdom. Come with me to the palace. I have food. It is much safer than here.”

Tiberius looked back at Lexi and Rafe. No one wanted to go with the man, who seemed to be crazy, but they didn’t want to stay in the building where they might be attacked by who knew what creatures in the night.

Lexi nodded, remembering the shadows she’d seen slinking around the city. Rafe went to Olyva and picked up the sturdiest looking board from the fire he could find. Olyva’s eyes were wide with fear, and Lexi didn’t blame her. Staying in the ruins of the abandoned city had been a mistake, but there was no way to change that now. Lexi went to the horses, who where shuffling nervously. Rafe and Olyva had already unsaddled and rubbed down the animals, but Lexi didn’t want to leave them behind. The dogs or worse creatures could attack them.

“We won’t leave the horses,” Lexi said.

“There is room,” Gunderlyn said excitedly. “Room for all, you will see. It is safe, come with me.”

Lexi led the horses by the reins and followed Tiberius, who had also picked up a firebrand. Rafe and Olyva followed the horses. Gunderlyn babbled as they walked, and most of what he said made no sense. He led them down winding streets. The dark buildings and shady alleys on either side of them seemed ominous to Lexi. The horses seemed nervous, too. Eventually they came to a sturdy-looking stone tower. The structure was only two stories high, but the windows were all sealed with stones mixed in a crude mortar.

“Here we are, here we are!” the man in the long robe said, kicking his feet up in a dance that revealed skinny, pale legs. “Welcome to the royal palace of Cobblestone.”

“This is your home, Gunderlyn?” Tiberius asked.

“Gunderlyn was my father,” the man said in a sneering tone. “Call me Waddlehat.”

He flung open the door, which was large and heavy. The doorway was arched, and the door fit the opening perfectly. Lexi guessed the massive door had somehow survived the passage of time. Gunderlyn waved them in, then disappeared into the darkness.

“I don’t like this,” Rafe said.

“We don’t have much choice,” Tiberius said.

“We can go back,” Rafe said. “We’ll saddle the horses and ride through the night. We can make proper torches from some of the wood hereabouts.”

“I’m not even sure how to find our way back,” Tiberius said in a low voice.

“Someone called the dogs off of us,” Olyva said. “Perhaps it really was this man.”

“He’s insane,” Rafe said.

“Things aren’t always what they seem,” Tiberius said. “He’s a wizard. I can feel the magic surrounding him.”

“All the more reason to leave,” Rafe said.

“Come in, come in. Bring your big dogs, too. There is room here,” the man called from inside the tower.

“Let’s just see what’s inside,” Tiberius said.

Rafe didn’t look happy, but he didn’t argue. Tiberius went in first, raising his firebrand over his head. The light from their burning planks was shaky at best, but just after Tiberius entered the tower, a steady, golden glow illuminated the structure.

“Come on,” Tiberius said. “It’s okay.”

Lexi led the horses forward, feeling strange bringing the beasts into another person’s home, but once she stepped through the doorway she realized why the man had offered. The tower was a large circular structure, but it had no roof. The man in the mismatched robes had lit an oil lamp, which was giving a steady light to the entire building.

“Leave your torches,” he cried in a loud voice. “The horses may stay here safely through the night. Just close up the outer door and set the beam.”

Lexi tied the horses’ reins to a metal ring that was set in the stone wall. She tied each rein with a simple slip knot that would pull free easily if they needed to flee the tower. Tiberius tossed their torches out onto the dirt-covered street, then Rafe closed the door and lifted a heavy wooden beam that fit snuggly into the bracket on the back of the door to lock the tower’s only entrance.

Dancer spiraled out of the inky black sky and landed on the stone wall. Lexi could just see the furry little animal in the light from Gunderlyn’s lamp. She raised her hand to the animal, but Dancer refused to come down to Lexi. She waved her hand, but the little animal trilled angrily.

“Hope your pet doesn’t know something we don’t,” Rafe whispered.

Lexi swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. In the light of the lamp, she could see their host’s ragged garment. It was made from the skins of many small animals, and strings of sinew and fat hung from the poorly tanned hides. The man wore no shoes or even sandals, carried no weapons that anyone could see, and yet had passed through the dark city without the aid of any light.

“Now, we shall go down,” Gunderlyn said in a sing-song voice.

“Down where?” Tiberius asked.

The man didn’t answer but pulled on a heavy trap door that revealed a stone staircase that disappeared under the tower. A horrible stench wafted up and made Lexi want to gag, but she forced herself not to show her revulsion.

“This way — come with me, my lovies,” Gunderlyn cried as he hopped down the steps.

The tower grew dark as their host carried the lamp down into the lower levels of the tower.

“I’m staying here,” Olyva said. “I can’t go down there.”

“I’ll stay with her,” Rafe said.

“Lexi?” Tiberius said.

“I’m coming,” she replied, hoping he didn’t hear the terror in her voice.

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Tiberius said. “We’ll be back no later than morning.”

“Don’t make me come down there to find you,” Rafe groused. “It smells like something died down there.”

“Nice,” Lexi said, as she followed Tiberius down the stairs.

The tower disappeared in darkness over their heads, and Lexi had to breathe through her mouth to keep from retching at the smell. The stairs spiraled down, and the light below her grew brighter. Finally they came down into a large chamber. What Lexi saw took her breath away. There were treasures everywhere. Gold, so much that it reflected the lamp’s light and made the whole room as bright as day. There were coins, some in chests, others in sacks, and still more in piles on the floor. There were gilded frames, gold candelabras, goblets, and trays. Silver and gold jewelry hung haphazardly from the other treasures, and weapons of every type, most made with incredible precision and painstaking forging methods, were scattered around the room. Some of the weapons even had gemstones inlaid in their handles or sheaths. There were religious articles and musical instruments, even bolts of shimmering cloth that looked almost like spun gold or silver.

“Forgive the mess,” Gunderlyn said. “I’m not a housekeeper after all.”

He laughed at his own joke, cackling like a raven. Tiberius looked at Lexi, who could only shrug her shoulders. In Avondale not even the earl had such a horde of treasure. She realized she would have to rob the entire city to find so much plunder and guessed that Gunderlyn had done just that, scouring the abandoned city for treasures.

The large treasure room led to a smaller set of rooms. The first was a kitchen of some kind. There was a large hearth, with a cast iron kettle hanging over the cold embers. A long table that was stained with blood stood against the opposite wall. Pegs were set in the stone walls, and small animal hides hung from the pegs in various stages of decomposition. The smell was overpowering, but Gunderlyn didn’t seem to notice.

He went through the kitchen and into another room that was filled with books. Lexi saw Tiberius stiffen as he saw the leather-bound volumes. Gunderlyn dropped into a heavily padded chair and propped his feet on a decorated footstool. He hiked up his robe, and Lexi had to look away to keep from seeing down his filthy thighs. He snatched up a thick pipe that looked as if it was made of bone. He grabbed a pinch of dark green leaves and stuffed them into the pipe. Then he used a long sliver of wood that he lit on one end in his lamp to light the pipe.

He toked the pipe several times before leaning back in his chair and drew a great draught of smoke into his lungs. He looked at Tiberius queerly for a moment, then spoke in a much lower voice.

“What is your business before the king?”

“My business?” Tiberius said. “I’m not sure I have any business.”

“Come, man, don’t make me drag it out of you. I’ve dungeons for people who waste the king’s time.”

“I sorry, but you invited us here.”

“You need lodging,” he said, nodding and drawing on his pipe again. “More beggars,” he chuckled. “And do you have something to trade for your room and board, peasant?”

“Well, no,” Tiberius said. “We have no wish to impose upon you. We were just passing through and looking to shelter in the city ruins for the night.”

“Well you may stay,” he said, his voice taking on the high pitch and insane inflections once more, “of course you may. I have plenty of room, plenty of room.”

“What happened to this city?” Tiberius asked.

“What happens to all cities eventually,” Gunderlyn said. “It has faded. The great stone works return to the dust from which they came.”

“What of the people?” Tiberius prodded.

“There are no people here. No, no, no,” he said with a chuckle. “My subjects would never allow people in the Kingdom of Devonyr.”

“We are people,” Lexi said quietly.

“Quite right, and so you are, for now at any rate. But that is a discussion for another time. People are so full of questions. Tell me, what is it like on the tall peaks? You are from one of the nine cities, are you not?”

“You know about the nine cities?” Tiberius asked.

“Of course I know of them. I am the Emperor of Valana after all.”

Lexi wanted to knock the man over the head and search all the rooms of his underground sanctum. She thought he needed help if he thought he was a ruler of anything but dust and lost treasures. Still, there was no denying the riches in the outer room. A handful of the gold there would keep Lexi warm, safe, and well fed for a year in Avondale. She guessed if they looted that one room and carried it as a gift to Tiberius’ father, they would be welcomed into Avondale like heroes. Not that she wanted that. What she really wanted was to get out of the smelly hole in the ground and breathe fresh air again.