Quest for Lost Heroes (37 page)

Suddenly the creatures howled and hurled themselves forward and Kiall started to back away, but Tanaki grabbed his jerkin. 'Stay on the path,' she hissed. The beasts came closer - but stopped, fangs bared, inches from the Silver Pathway.

The party moved on into the endless dark. From close by came a scream, then the sound of laughter, manic and shrill. But they saw nothing. The rustle of wings came from above, but when Kiall looked up he saw only darkness.

Then there was silence for a while.

Chareos walked on, oblivious to his surroundings. Beltzer was dead. Maggrig and Finn were slain. His mind reeled back from the tragedies, seeking solace in memories of better times as he followed Harokas blindly, unthinking.

A voice sounded from the left of the path. 'Chareos, help me.' The Blademaster glanced to his left where Beltzer was staggering towards them, wounded but alive. As Chareos stepped from the path the skin peeled back from Beltzer's frame and a scaled creature leapt at the swordsman.

Chareos did not move.

Kiall dived at him, hooking an arm around his waist and hurling him from his feet. But the scaled beast moved with terrifying speed, twisting and looming over them. The small figure of Chien-tsu hurdled the fallen men, his silver sword slicing through the creature's neck. Harokas and Tanaki pulled Chareos back on to the path, Kiall scrambling after them, as Chien backed slowly to join them.

Asta stared down at Chareos and shook his head. These fools would never learn, he thought. Their judgements, their reason, were built on emotions: love, honour, duty, friendship. The Nadir also understood the value of all four, but viewed them differently. Instead of love of the individual, there was love of tribe. Honour and duty were not abstracts but realities, earned by serving the chosen leader. And friendship, forged in war, was the least of all. On the word of a khan one friend would cut the head from another. There would be regret, but not a moment's hesitation. No Nadir warrior would have stepped from the Silver Path. Asta walked on.

The darkness closed in around them, then Asta's voice sounded. 'Stand very still, and wait until you see the light once more. Then move swiftly, for I cannot hold the Gateway for long.'

Silence followed, broken only by the rustling of wings above and the stealthy padding of claws on the rocky ground beside the path. A shaft of dim grey light lit the scene, stretching, widening.

'Now!' yelled Asta and the little shaman ran through the opening. Chien, Oshi and Harokas ran after him. Chareos stumbled through, followed by Kiall. Tanaki ran forward, but her foot strayed from the path and instantly a hairy hand grabbed her ankle, tripping her. She rolled, drawing her sword and hacking at the limb. The hand slid away, but she saw the giant wolves bearing down on her. Bunching her legs beneath her, she hurled herself at the shrinking Gateway.

She hit the ground hard, rolled and came to her knees. The Gate had vanished, and she was kneeling on a ledge high above the city of Ulrickham.

Kiall helped her to her feet. 'I would not wish to walk that path again,' he said. Unable to speak, she merely nodded. Chareos was sitting by himself, staring down at the ground. He looked older, more weary than Kiall had ever seen him.

Kiall walked to him. 'He was a strong man. A good friend,' he said.

'He was a fool. We are all fools,' whispered Chareos. 'But I will see out the game.' He turned his gaze on the city. 'What do you think, Kiall? Shall we surround it and demand they release Ravenna?'

'Whatever you say, Chareos.'

Chareos rose and stretched his back. He smiled and clapped his hand to Kiall's shoulder. 'Life goes on, boy. Do not be too concerned for me.'

Asta Khan walked over to them, squatting to sit before Chareos. 'There is an underground river, below Ulrick-ham. The great Tenaka knew of it, and linked the city's sewers to it. He also strengthened the side tunnels so that there would be a means of escape if the city was surrounded.'

'Is it guarded?' Kiall asked.

'Not by men. It would not be much of a secret if all the soldiers in Ulrickham knew of its existence. No, the prisoners who laboured to strengthen the tunnels were slain.'

'But it is guarded by something,' said Chareos and Asta looked up, his dark eyes hooded.

'Yes, Blademaster. By something. The blood of the slain was used by me to weave a dark spell. I merged the tunnel with the Void.'

The Void?' queried Kiall.

'You have just passed through it,' Asta told him. 'Only below Ulrickham there is no Silver Path.'

'We must pass through it again? I couldn't!' said Tanaki.

'You can!' hissed Asta. 'It is not long - a mere twenty paces. I will lead you.'

'And once we are through?' asked Chareos. 'How do we reach Ravenna?'

Tanaki stepped forward. 'You cannot, Chareos. Asta knows this. No man could enter the Palace of Women - but I could.'

'No,' protested Kiall. 'No, I won't have that. It is . . .'

Tanaki chuckled. 'Do not say
too dangerous
, Kiall. It is your only hope.'

'She is right,' said Asta, his eyes shining now. 'She is truly of the blood of the Great Tenaka.' Chien-tsu and Harokas joined the group, listening as Tanaki outlined her plan.

'The question is when,' said Chareos.

'The time is now,' declared Asta. 'The journey through the Void took many weeks, though it felt like hours. Ravenna is only a few days from giving birth.'

'Should we not wait until after the birth?' Harokas asked.

'No!' said Asta. 'Jungir will take the Queen and the heir around the kingdom. They will be surrounded by warriors, and there would be no way to approach them. No, it must be now. Tonight.'

Chien said nothing, but his eyes locked to the face of the shaman. There was much here that was not being said. He did not like Asta Khan, but this quest meant nothing to the Kiatze. He would aid the questors, and then demand his payment. He stood and moved back to Oshi. The old man's face was grey, his eyes wide and staring. The walk through the Void had terrified him.

'Sleep for a while, Oshi,' said Chien, but the old man shook his head.

'I would dream of that place, and I would never wake.'

Nodding, Chien took a sharp knife from the sheath in his sleeve. 'Then be so kind as to make yourself useful. Shave me.'

The little servant smiled. 'Yes, lord.'

*

The sun sank beyond the distant, mist-shrouded horizon and Chareos stood alone, staring down at the city below, where the first lanterns of evening had been lit. He thought of his boyhood, and the dream of Attalis that one day Chareos would return to the lands of the Drenai and find the hidden Armour of Bronze.

'You will be a great leader, my boy. I know. I can see it in you.'

How little you knew me, thought Chareos. You saw me through the eyes of hope. A great leader? I have brought my greatest friends on a quest of death, and they lie unburied and far from home.

And what did we achieve, he wondered? How has the world been changed by their deaths?

'
It is not over yet
,' whispered a voice in his mind.

'Okas?' he said aloud. But there was no response, and he wondered if he had imagined the old man's voice in the whispering of the dusk breeze. He shivered.

Beltzer had saved them all, standing alone in the dark of the mountain. Chareos smiled, and a weight lifted from him. He looked up at the sky. 'You were a cantankerous, foul-smelling, evil-minded whoreson, Beltzer. But you never let down a friend. May the Source take you. May you drink your fill in the Hall of Heroes.'

He turned away and saw Harokas standing close by, half hidden in the shadows. The assassin stepped forward.

'I am sorry, Chareos, I did not mean to eavesdrop on your farewell.'

The swordsman shrugged. 'It does not matter. What did you want?'

'You intend to go into the city?'

'Yes.'

Harokas nodded. 'It strikes me that we shall have a serious problem if you succeed. We have no horses. Even if you bring the woman out - how will we get away?'

'The wizard will think of something,' said Chareos uneasily.

'Yes, I'm sure,' answered Harokas, dropping his voice, 'but he is playing his own game - and I don't like to think what it might be. But every time I have heard of Nadir shamen it is to do with death and human sacrifice. Is that why he wants the woman, do you think?'

When Chareos said nothing Harokas nodded, understanding the silence. 'Yes, I thought you were worried about that. Look, I will not come with you. I will walk down into the city and buy ponies. I am not known there, and we are not yet at war with the Nadir. Once I have bought them I will ride south, then turn and meet you beyond that bluff, near the stand of poplar.'

Chareos looked deeply into the man's eyes. 'Will you betray us, Harokas? Will you sell us for Nadir gold?'

The assassin's face darkened, but he bit back an angry response. Instead he said, 'I say this for your ears only, Blademaster; I love Tanaki. I would die for her. You understand me? I would sell you in an instant, but not her.
Never
her.'

'I believe you,' said Chareos. 'We will meet as you say.'

Harokas eased past the Blademaster and climbed down the ridge. Chareos watched him, but the dark-garbed figure was soon lost among the shadows.

'Far be it from me to criticise a leader's decision,' said Chien-tsu, bowing low, 'but I do not believe he is to be trusted.'

'You move silently, ambassador.'

'Sometimes it is better so to do. Will we truly meet him at the place you agreed?'

'No. To get there he must pass the trail to the south. We will wait there.'

'Excellent. It may be, Chareos, that I will not be accompanying you. If that proves to be true, would you be so kind as to look after my servant, Oshi? See him safely to a port. I will leave him coin to pay his passage to Kiatze.'

'You intend to kill Jungir Khan? Alone?'

'Such is my intention. The barbarian mistreated the daughter of my Emperor. Quite rightly she took her own life. Now, I must take his. It is a question of harmony and balance.'

Chareos looked down at the small warrior, noting the steadiness of his gaze and the proud, stern set of his features.

'It seems to me, ambassador, that the life of a man like Jungir Khan would not compensate for the loss of Chien-tsu.'

'A graceful compliment,' said the Kiatze, surprised. He bowed low. 'And yet the deed must be done. I will journey with you into the bowels of the earth, and I will wait until the woman is rescued. After that, I shall seek out the Khan.'

Asta Khan led the questors down to the edge of a fissure, a jagged tear in the land's surface. Kiall leaned over and gazed down into the inky depths.

'This is the entrance,' said Asta. 'Now we climb.' The old man nimbly dropped to his haunches and slithered over the edge. Kiall shook his head and looked to Chareos.

The Blademaster unbuckled his sword-belt and hung it over his shoulders before bellying down and following the shaman.

'Wait here, Oshi,' said Chien-tsu. 'And if I do not return, take note of the man Chareos. Serve him as you would me. You understand?'

'Yes, lord,' answered the servant miserably.

Tanaki and Kiall were the last to begin the dark climb. The hand- and foot-holds were good, and the descent less perilous than first appeared. Asta Khan reached the lowest level, raised his arms, and a soft yellow light glowed on the walls of the cavern.

'A heavily pregnant woman will not be able to make that climb,' said Chareos.

'Nor will she need to,' Asta told him. 'I have made preparations.' Moving to the wall, he reached down behind a jutting rock and lifted a coil of hemp rope. 'When we have her, we will climb back to the surface and then haul her up.'

Draping the rope over the rock, he set off across the dimly glowing cavern. The others followed him through a honeycomb of tunnels until, after about half an hour, they reached a point where the glowing light did not penetrate.

Asta pointed to the forbidding wall of darkness. 'You all know what is beyond this point: it is the Void. I shall pass through, with the woman Tanaki and the warrior Chien-tsu. You, Chareos, and your friend, will remain here.'

'What purpose will that serve?' asked Chareos.

'If we are pursued, you will cover our retreat. Many of them will be killed in the Void, but others might get through. Also, much could go wrong for us beyond this barrier. You will be able to hear us - and give us aid if necessary.'

'You said there was no Silver Pathway,' said Kiall. 'How then will you cross safely?'

'I am not without power, child,' snapped Asta. 'But all life is perilously fragile. A man cannot live without danger, no matter how much he may desire it.' He turned to Chien and Tanaki. 'Draw your swords and be ready to use them.'

Kiall touched Tanaki's arm. 'Be careful,' he said, knowing the words were ludicrous but unable to find others. She smiled, leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

'Now stand close to me,' ordered Asta, 'placing your hands on my shoulders.' Chien stood on the shaman's left, Tanaki on his right. Slowly they moved into the darkness.