Chasers of the Wind (36 page)

“I didn’t expect to meet you here,” said the courier in lieu of a greeting.

I silently cut the rope from his hands. Then from his feet.

“You dispatched them handily.” He nodded toward the dead men. “Something you’re used to?”

“How were you caught?” I ignored his question.

“Uh…” My companion paused to rub his wrists. “They nicked me with a stupid arrow, and took me down like a duck. I fell off my horse, and they trussed me up. Your help was most welcome. Thank you.”

“Not at all,” I said dryly. “I wasn’t planning to look for you.”

“I understand,” he said, and chuckled. “I can only thank Melot that you saw the light.”

“Get up. We have to leave.”

“I’d be happy to, but my head’s still buzzing.” He groaned, taking out a flask of reska.

“Do you know what happened here? Where everyone went?”

“No. Perhaps they ran, perhaps they were chased, killed, eaten, turned into butterflies, who knows,” Gis said morosely. “There’s no one here except the Sdisians. No bodies, no traces.”

“Well, on the matter of bodies—you’re way off. There was one ringing the bell.”

I quickly told him about the hanged man.

“That’s just the kind of trick they like to play.” The courier looked at the dead archer with hatred in his eyes. “They say they are masters at arranging such nastiness.”

“Nonsense. The Highborn of Sandon could put them to shame. And our lads from the frontier garrisons played such tricks on the bastards from the House of Butterfly
(one of the Houses of the Highborn. Notable for their cruelty toward human prisoners of war)
almost every day.”

“You were involved in that war?” he asked with interest.

“I had to be,” I replied reluctantly, waiting for a barrage of questions. But he only nodded.

“Right now we are fighting in the north and east, and I didn’t expect to see a Sdisian patrol so far to the west of the Empire. How did they manage to penetrate so deep, and to bypass all the patrols and outposts?”

“That’s easy. Through the fields and forests. Another thing—what do they want here? Why in the Abyss have they wandered in so far, and just six of them?”

“They could be a preliminary reconnaissance squad. They are marching not far from Crow’s Nest. Al’sgara hasn’t been attacked yet; perhaps it’s her time. We don’t actually know how many of them there are.”

“And I don’t plan to find out.” I pulled him to his feet. “Let’s go.”

“I’m afraid I can’t go anywhere until I find Fly. She gave me the slip.”

“You’re lucky. Your mare didn’t run far. I’ll be right back.”

Having left Gis, I went after the horses and stopped in my tracks when I saw that two more animals had appeared next to Stallion and Fly.

Before I could figure out where such a miracle had come from, something struck my legs and I fell straight on my back, so hard that my teeth clacked. Ignoring the pain, I rolled to the side, began to get to my feet, and once again got a whack to the legs from the invisible something. I fell again, tried to jump up again, simultaneously turning my head in the hopes of seeing my unseen enemy.

This time I was lucky and I saw a man running out of the fog. I raised my bow and almost instantly tossed it aside with a yelp. My weapon flashed with a bright flame and it was only by some miracle that I didn’t burn my hands. Meanwhile the stranger was right in my face. He once again struck me down to the ground, and then he pinned me there with his weight and began clawing at my neck with his hands.

“Gotcha!” he wailed in a sepulchral voice.

I tried to resist, but some strange force wouldn’t let me move a muscle. Steel fingers squeezed relentlessly at my throat.

“Where are they? Where are the boy and girl? Speak!” yelled the lunatic. He obviously didn’t grasp the fact that in just a little while I would never be able to speak to anyone again.

Not once in my life had I fallen into such a bind. Even being led to the gallows was easier. Lungs burning, I tried to pull in just a drop of air. My ears were buzzing. It was just at that moment that I recognized my enemy—it was none other than the half-wit Pork from Dog Green. He had changed greatly, and his eyes were glowing with a white light.

Coming to my rescue, Gis kicked the idiot in the face, and this forced him to let go of my neck. I immediately took the opportunity to fight back, and threw my opponent off of me. He snarled, jumped at me, and then something unheard-of happened. The courier took a short, twisted wand inlaid with red stone from his bag and pointed it at our assailant. Pork twitched once and then froze. His face contorted, and the next second he fell facedown on the ground, twitching with convulsions.

“You alive?” Gis asked me as if nothing were the matter.

I coughed desperately and rubbed my poor neck. The fool was surprisingly strong. I considered it a miracle that he hadn’t broken my spine.

“Hey! Are you alive?” Gis asked again.

“Thanks to your efforts, wizard,” I croaked. “Thanks to your efforts.”

“Well then,” he said after a pause. “I’m glad I don’t have to explain anything to you.”

“Only a fool … would not understand … what kind of people … carry twisted wands with rubies.”

Gis grinned and suddenly asked, “Do you know him?”

“Yes. Pork. From the village where I lived for the last few years. I can’t imagine how he came to be here.”

At that moment the fool groaned, sat up, shook his head, and looked at us. His eyes were no longer white, but had become blue once again.

“Well, now we’ll have a chat.” I turned toward him with a determined air.

The cowherd, realizing that he would be beaten, squealed thinly and clasped his hands.

“No! Don’t! It wasn’t me!” he whined. “Please! I’m good!”

“Ness!” Gis called to me quietly.

“What?” I stopped halfway and looked at him angrily.

“Leave him alone. He’s not to blame.”

“Not to blame!” agreed Pork and for some reason began looking around cautiously. “It’s all Mistress. She made me. Yes!”

“How do you know?” I asked Gis, ignoring the fool’s words.

“It’s obvious. Your acquaintance shows all the signs of possession. And it’s very strange.”

“Do you mean to tell me that one of your friends has taken up shop in him?” I asked him incredulously.

“Well, first of all, demons are not my friends. Get that into your head. And secondly, the one bound to him is not a demon. I’ve never encountered anything like it.”

“But now he looks…” I wanted to say “normal” but I realized that such a word didn’t really fit the village idiot.

“Not possessed?” continued Gis. “That’s not at all surprising. I managed to save the young man from his companion in time.… Hey! Hey! Stop!”

I turned around and saw that Pork was running away from us so fast that his heels were on fire. Well sure, why would he wait around until we were done chatting and decided to give him a drubbing? Gis and I ran after him.

The cowherd was quick. He disappeared into the damned fog and for some time we ran aimlessly, hoping to catch him.

“It’s useless!” I said finally. “He must have turned aside and we ran past him. Shit! It’s like looking for wind in a field!”

I was beginning to regret that I hadn’t stabbed the fool in the back with my axe. I wanted to take him alive, and this was the result. Gone, like water in sand. No way would I catch him now.

“I don’t mean to upset you, but we need to get out of here as soon as possible.” Gis had not parted with his wand.

“Why such haste?” I asked irritably, angry at both him and myself for having lost Pork. “An hour ago I couldn’t persuade you to pass this place by.”

“You’ve got to understand the situation, lad.” He drew out the words, staring into the fog. “Of course I am not at all averse to staying here, but your friend, or rather, the one who controls him, is weak for the moment, but has quite a bit of real magic. And I, for all my considerable experience, would not want to face him when he finally takes control of that poor man again. So I ask you kindly, stop baring your teeth at me and let’s go.”

His expression was very troubled, and I decided not to argue.

*   *   *

Less than three hours later we found the road, and by evening we were sitting in a decent roadside tavern and everything that had happened that morning might have seemed like a dream if not for one thing—the fingerprints of that hapless strangler on my neck.

The incident with Pork seemed very, very strange. I kept wondering how he found me and what he wanted. Why did he attack? Who was he asking about? Where did I come into it? At first I didn’t recognize him at all. He was dressed far more nicely than usual, and his appearance had changed. It was as if someone fashioned a new face for him. There was quite a noticeable difference between the Pork from before and the current Pork. He little resembled the idiot I’d seen almost every day I was living in Dog Green. He was a completely normal man, if just a little bit off. That, and he had impossibly white eyes.

What? What, the Abyss take me, was going on? And why did Gis say that the moron was possessed and had magic? The perpetual laughingstock of the whole village—a mage? Don’t make me laugh! However, the wizard probably knew better.

That’s another of today’s surprises—the dusty, gray mouse turned out to be a lion.

I put down my completely untouched mug of shaf and stared grimly at the man who I’d gotten used to calling a courier. He caught my gaze and grinned.

“What is it?” I asked irritably.

“You’re a very patient man. You’ve been silent all day, like a stubborn Je’arre or a proud Highborn. But I can see in your eyes that you have more questions than a Nirit has teeth. Ask me.”

“Who are you?”

“Hmm. I thought you already had an idea.”

“Pretend I’m ignorant. I don’t even know your name.”

“You can call me Gis. That’s a real name.”

“And you—”

“Just talk quieter,” he swiftly interrupted. “Why bother these nice people?”

Here he was right. The tavern was full of customers, and if these farmers, traders, travelers, and soldiers from the nearest garrison found out that someone from the Scarlet Order was sitting next to them, who knows what would happen? I think they’d probably only be more alarmed at meeting a necromancer. While the Walkers, the Viceroys, and the Emperor himself recognized the existence of the wizards as a necessary evil, the common folk were afraid of people like Gis.

It is said that the Scarlets possess their own, very strange magic, which has no effect on ordinary people, but works perfectly well on various demons and spirits. It’s quite easy to understand why someone who could control such fierce and terrible beings would be dreaded even more than the Damned. The Damned were far away. Beyond the Boxwood Mountains, Nabator, and the Great Waste. But the Scarlets—here they are. Right next to you. And the darkness knows how strangely they’ll behave. One thing’s for sure—it won’t be anything good.

I didn’t think that way. I’d never seen the wizards do anything wicked. Even if they wanted to, the Walkers would quickly take them under their authority, since even the strongest tamer of demons was no more dangerous than an ordinary man without his amulets, wand, and books of Invocation. As for the magic, even the weakest Ember could easily overpower a wizard. The wearers of scarlet cloth did not possess the spark. All their abilities were based on long study, good memory, and plenty of artifacts. As some wiseasses joked, with due diligence, even a monkey can learn to master demons.

“You don’t really look like a wizard,” I said, lowering my voice. “More like a…”

“A courier?” His narrow face looked inordinately satisfied.

“Just a little. Why the masquerade?”

“Have you ever tried traveling in scarlet clothing?”

“No.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it.”

As I already said, people have very little love for those who rub elbows with demons. The roads are long and all sorts of nasty things can happen on them. Including a crossbow bolt from the bushes. And not all the demons of the Abyss could save you from that. So here Gis was correct—it would be better to have something more modest than red silk and velvet in reserve for long travels. Like the costume of a courier, for example.

“What compelled the Magister to hit the road?”

He was astonished but he did not hide it. He yanked at his walrus mustache and said, “You never cease to amaze me, lad.”

“Right. A simple acolyte would never have a wand with gems of that size.”

“Allow me to keep silent about my business.”

“But is everything you told us about Gash-Shaku true?”

“Yes. The city is under siege. I barely managed to get out. And everything else is also true.”

I nodded grimly.

“I’m glad that you, unlike so many others, do not shy away from me,” he said suddenly.

“Should I?”

“Many people do just that.”

“Actually, I don’t really care who you are, and I care not a whit for the causes of your journey.”

“So much the better for both of us. Tell me, that man who squeezed your throat with such abandon, does he always act like that with his friends?”

“I don’t really know. I never noticed him do anything of the sort before. I don’t understand what happened at all. You said he was connected with demons.”

“Did I? I don’t recall that.”

“I thought you said something about possession?”

“Possession is not caused by creatures from the Abyss, but by spirits.”

“What difference does it make to me? Do you have some way of explaining what happened to him?”

Gis frowned, clasped his fingers together, and cracked his knuckles.

“The lad is possessed, as I said. But it is somehow strange. I”—he made a point of highlighting the word—“have never encountered anything like it. And such a case is not mentioned anywhere in the book of Invocation.”

“The real question is, where did our village idiot manage to unearth such foul trash?”

“I really don’t know. He could have encountered it anywhere. Or it him, for the minds of the mentally ill are always open to such creatures. Are there any ancient burial grounds near your village, or abandoned settlements or anything like that?”