Escana (84 page)

'Let him go,' she pleaded,
surprised at the desperation and fear in her own voice.

El-Vador didn't listen to her, he
carried the boy across the concourse with definitive steps as he
continued to squirm and fight against his grasp with more frantic
efforts.

Ella realised where he was headed
and screamed at him. 'Please! Let him go! He hasn't done anything
wrong!'

A number of passers by stared at
her in confusion and shock, then Belesdair was there.

'What's wrong my dear? What has
happened?'

Ella pointed frantically at
El-Vador as he continued to carry Eli to the edge of the concourse.
Belesdair squinted for a time and looked baffled. 'I don't
understand, what is it you're pointing at? Maybe you should come with
me and we'll talk things over together.'

A glamour. Ella suddenly
realised, he couldn't see what was happening, all of this was only
apparent to her because of that damn seed. Then it hit her, El-Vador
knew she could see this, he knew she was watching and he was going to
do it anyway.

Composing herself, she turned to
Belesdair and gave him a smile. 'I'm quite fine now, thank you
Belesdair.'

The man didn't look entirely
convinced but nodded and was on his way. Ella crossed the distance at
a brisk pace without breaking out into a sprint, fortunately the deed
had not been done yet.

She touched his arm pleadingly,
he paid it no heed. She beseeched him once more, quietly this time so
as to not provoke a reaction from those nearby. If El-Vador had heard
her words he gave no impression. Finally she grabbed onto his leg to
forcibly prevent him from carrying the boy to the edge, he dragged
her along with him.

'I thought you were different,'
she finally wailed, sounding too akin to Alissandra for her own
liking. 'I thought you were the hero from the book, I thought you had
learned.' She let go of his leg and stood directly in his way so that
he had no choice but to acknowledge her. 'You were supposed to
protect humanity, is that what you call this?'

He looked at her then, finally
acknowledging her efforts to stall his action, probably realising
that he would have to force her out of the way. 'Ella, you need to
trust me, I will explain everything to you.'

Eli stopped squirming as he heard
that. 'Why are you speaking in your native tongue to her?'

El-Vador smiled. 'My dearest and
sweetest that consists of all parts Eli, I have spoken to this fair
lady in my mother tongue because I find it most concise in its
deliverance as opposed to my somewhat elongated translation into the
tongue you ape.'

Eli blinked.

'She doesn't speak your tongue...
unless...'

'Unless she actually is Elven and
your mistress is horribly mistaken in her latest conniving scheme
against me.'

She actually was Elven.
Alissandra had lied to her and through his own ignorance Eli had
confirmed it, using words that no small child could. El-Vador had
known all along, he had played both Alissandra and her henchmen for
fools, he was untouchable.

He walked past a stunned Ella and
let go, together they watched the boy's prone form tumble down
through the clouds and out of sight with a squeal.

Wordlessly, El-Vador gathered her
into his arms and for the first time she felt safe.

T
he boy
twisted and turned in his bed, he hated the summer nights with their
incessant cloying warmth. No matter which way he kicked out, the heat
of the blankets wouldn't cease. He took a deep breath and found
himself choking, opening his eyes he spluttered sand out onto the
sheets. Then with a sinking feeling he realised that there was no
sand in Escana.

He lay prone on his back in the
desert heat, hugging the surface of the sand and cooking. He opened
his eyes properly this time and felt a great weight pressing down on
him as if he was being buried. He tried to heave it off and then with
a jolt he realised what he was pushing at.

With a frenzied effort he shoved
the corpse of Jadil off him, trying to recall what it was that had
killed the man without having any success in piercing his foggy
memory. Was he dead? He was fairly certain that the last thing he
recalled was the execution he was about to receive, had something
saved him from this plight?

He staggered away from the body
and twitched his fingers experimentally, he was still here, but who
else was?

Staring down at the bodies an
awful suspicion arose in him to mingle with the sickness he felt.

He was the last person left alive
in Sah'kel.

Taking a deep breath of the dry
desert air he set off toward the entrance of the fort, if the
assassin had left the Urtaka alive in there he could search for some
rations and attempt to set up the cage. He just hoped that the
creatures were receptive to him, then again he didn't have much to
lose or anything else he could call a plan at this point.

The stone walls were eerily
quiet, whether night or day there had always been noise in Sah'kel,
Dyson had seen to that with the night shift making their presence
heard when it wasn't felt. Now there was nothing but silence
enveloping the entire area, not even the noise of wind touched what
now looked like an acrid tomb.

Jimmy ventured deeper into the
corridors with a growing sense of unease, wondering to himself how
much noise two Urtakas would make and just what he was going to do if
he found their corpses. He stopped short when he heard faint sound
from past the corner of the corridor he stood in, it was a scraping
noise as if something was being heavily dragged across the floor.
Jimmy's heart pounded in his ears, he had hoped against hope that
someone else would be alive but now that he heard the condition it
was in he wasn't sure he wanted to witness it. He'd seen enough death
to last him a lifetime, he wasn't sure he could take the only other
living occupant of Sah'kel dying in front of him.

He found that his feet refused to
move, was it his conscience or his fear that was preventing him from
leaving this place and discovering his fate? His legs felt stiff and
immobile, as if rigor mortis had set in and he had actually been
among the walking dead. Pinching himself, he let out a yelp of
surprise, yes, he was definitely alive for now.

The sound of his voice must have
carried further than he intended it as the limping increased in speed
and seemed to be heading directly toward him now. Apparently he
wasn't going to be given a choice and would have to deal with his
fellow survivor one way or another.

His feeling of unease gave way to
panic when he discovered that his legs still couldn't move, it was as
if the link between his mind and body had been severed.

The figure grew closer now, Jimmy
could hear a ragged breathing at odd intervals. The man certainly
didn't sound in the best of health, he only hoped that would lend him
an advantage should he find his feet and need to flee.

As it finally rounded the corner,
Jimmy caught a brief glimpse of it before realising his legs had
returned to him of their own accord. The image was burned into his
mind as he sprinted down the corridor as far as he could from it,
leaping over fallen guards and hoping that he wouldn't lose his
footing.

It was a nightmarish thing,
shambling on twisted legs toward him at a frightening pace. The
breathing rattled about in its chest and caused open wounds dotted
over its form to weep. That wasn't the most frightening aspect
though, Jimmy had got a brief look at the creature's eyes.

They were lucid and human,
defying the monstrous contours of the body they inhabited. It was the
knowing gaze that swept over him as it realised it wouldn't catch
him, that there were only so many places Jimmy could flee before
eventually he would succumb.

He looked behind him once,
forcing himself to slow upon realising that he didn't know where he
was running to. Whatever was pursuing him was doing so at a
methodical pace, this gave Jimmy time to think, or despair.

No, Jimmy thought to himself. He
wasn't going to give in to despair, there had to be a way out of
Sah'kel now that the guards had been slaughtered. If Jadil had been
killed by that thing why had it not taken Jimmy's life also?
Furthermore if the assassin had killed him he would be just as likely
to finish Jimmy in the process, the fact that he was still living
made no sense as he didn't see either party offering him mercy.

He needed to find the Urtaka and
he doubted that such beasts would be kept below ground, they were
used to the desert conditions and as such needed little sheltering
beyond the palisade. He needed to leave these corridors and search
the exterior of the fort, perhaps they were kept in an adjoining shed
or building. He hoped it was easy to saddle one of them, he didn't
want to witness their reaction to the creature stalking him.

He felt safer out in the open, at
least here he could spot the monster coming when it inevitably caught
up with him. He refused to think about what would happen when he
started to tire.

As he skirted the inside of the
palisade wall he fought down the urge to move quickly, he knew that
he may miss an important detail should he be pressed by fear into
moving faster than he needed to.

He heard the shuffling footsteps
ahead of him this time.

Turning quickly he went back the
way he came in the hopes of evading the thing a little longer. He had
to find the Urtaka before night fell and his sight was compromised,
he couldn't imagine trying to evade that thing in the dark.

Approaching the other side of the
ringed palisade he heard the same footsteps, this time they were more
pronounced than before. He dashed in the opposite direction but he
couldn't get there before the footsteps started ringing in his ears.

Jimmy realised with horror that
the creature was deliberately herding him closer to the gate at a
meticulous pace. It was going to eventually corner him or, having
failed that, it would force him into the open desert and wait for him
to perish. It was almost as if it knew what Jimmy was seeking and was
actively attempting to prevent him from escape, the sentience he had
seen behind those eyes lent itself to that suggestion all too
readily.

Jimmy found himself at the gate
and running out of options, heading back into the fort was futile as
there was nothing there but gloom and close quarters. Fighting the
creature was out of the question given that it had been responsible
for what was left of some of the bodies he came across. Torn asunder
in a shower of gore in a way that no clinical assassin would bother
with. Jimmy shuddered, feeling sick to his core, this was a horrible
way to die.

'Hey kid!' a voice rang out
across the desert floor.

He turned, relief flooding into
him simply from hearing another human sound after his frantic
evasions.

It was the assassin, stood next
to the giant lizard creature that had deigned not to destroy
C-Company. It was a strange relief, knowing that your death was going
to be merciful and swift rather than one of horror and despair.

Jimmy approached them with a
growing certainty, if he was going to die then he was going to do it
with his head held high and with as little fear as possible.

'I'm ready,' he said to the pair
of them, waiting for the execution.

The foreigner drew his sword with
a metallic ring that signalled the end. 'How do you wish to die?'

Jimmy offered him a defiant
smile, refusing to show fear to the man this time. 'Just make it
swift, I'm being followed.'

The assassin nodded. 'We know of
the shambling creature, he's fairly easy to avoid unless you're
trapped here. I guess you were rather unfortunate in that respect,
better I had killed you before than force you to witness such a thing
in your lifetime.'

He drew closer to Jimmy and
started to raise the blade. 'Down on your knees, I'll make this
swift.'

Jimmy found himself on his knees
all too suddenly, was he really so eager to die?

Nothing happened.

'My friend informs me that he
believes you were the one that refused to attack him.'

He nodded silently to these
words, what did it matter now?

'Re'tak is of a mind to spare
you, he claims that the extra burden is nothing. I claim that every
person in this fort must die. He insists that honour has been done
and that none coming across this place will know that you survived.
If you are willing to never speak of your time in Greyhawk, I will
forgo exhuming you and we may travel together to Je'dara. Are these
terms acceptable? If not I shall terminate your life.'

Jimmy didn't believe in a higher
power per se, the number of times he had been saved from certain
death was beginning to make him question whether something was
guiding him. He looked up into the narrowed eyes of his would-be
assassin and took an outstretched hand that hoisted him to his feet.
Somehow he was still alive, he wasn't entirely sure why.