Stranger of Tempest: Book One of The God Fragments (37 page)

He half-stumbled as the memory filled his thoughts. Grunting, Lynx glanced around to see Sitain watching him and he straightened, hoping she couldn’t see the guilty flush that coloured his cheeks.

‘You glazed over a bit there,’ she whispered.

‘Ain’t a fan of underground,’ he said in a gruff voice. ‘Trying to think of something else.’

‘So I saw.’

A sharp glance over her shoulder from Toil hushed the pair of them, but Lynx could sense the knowing grin on Sitain’s lips even as they trudged on in silence. He felt his hand tighten at the thought, but knew perfectly how his anger smouldered at such times. A dozen long, slow breaths were enough to dispel the urge to lash out. When he was composed again he kept his head up and focused on the miles ahead of them instead.

The tunnel floor was not far off a highway in terms of being level and free of debris. The lack of light meant occasionally there would be an unseen stone underfoot, but for the main part they could keep to a swift pace which would somewhat lessen the Charneler advantage of horseback. They pressed on, the longer-limbed Wisps pushing the mercenaries as fast as they could walk, and by Lynx’s estimation they covered the ground quickly.

An hour passed, then another. The Wisps showed no sign of pausing for a rest despite some of their number being burdened by the baskets. There were thirteen of them in all, nine labourers and four warriors as escort. Occasionally one of the warriors would lope on ahead, breaking into a lazy jog that nevertheless meant they disappeared into the darkness only moments later. They didn’t go far from what Lynx could tell, just enough to scout the ground ahead where an obstacle or bend in the tunnel must have obscured their view. Once or twice it took a few hundred yards of walking before the scout was caught up, but Lynx couldn’t tell if they had gone further or just continued at a distance and the pace was such he didn’t bother to ask.

An old rockfall slowed them briefly, the Wisp warriors silently creeping up over a great uneven pile of stone where the tunnel had collapsed and been dug open long ago. The mercenaries waited well back with the labourers while the warriors investigated for threats. Lynx took the time to inspect his comrades in turn, determined to distract himself from the gnawing anxiety of being underground.

Reft stood tall and still, a statue of a man undisturbed by everything going on around him, while Teshen prowled like a restless panther – not nervous, but brimming with energy. Anatin and Olut leaned close, talking in whispers, while Toil retreated back down the tunnel to watch their rear.

She almost vanished from the meagre reach of the strange lantern, having left it with a jittery Sitain, and still Toil looked unruffled, as though the dark was her true home. The idea disquieted Lynx. Just imagining it made him breathless. But before the panic could mount Kas plonked herself down beside him, her face a picture of calm as though they were in a quiet tavern rather than some monster-haunted mine.

‘Take a load off,’ she whispered to him. ‘Keep me company.’

Lynx complied with a forced smile and sat down beside her, a long-familiar saying of his homeland’s army appearing in his thoughts. ‘
The body can be trained as easily as a dog – a warrior must make his body obedient to his every command.
’ It was something Governor Lorfen had quoted to him, just before releasing Lynx into the So Han countryside.

‘
I’ve seen slaves and prisons, more than I care to remember,
’ Lorfen had said. ‘
They break minds and some damage cannot be undone, but you So Han warriors understand mastery over the body better than most others. Regain that mastery, choose to be the one in command, or you will be a slave to the broken parts inside you. Force yourself to smile, to stand tall and face the sun rather than the shadows of your fears. Wear it as armour against the fears and the body will learn such habits again. It won’t heal the breaks, but it’ll ease their pain. Sometimes having that armour to hide behind is enough.
’

‘Reckon we’re getting through this alive?’ Kas said, nudging him from his reverie.

‘This ruin?’ Lynx shrugged. ‘Getting friendly with the natives can’t hurt. Toil seems to know what she’s about.’

She nodded and took a swig of water from her canteen. ‘Aye, guess so. Still can’t get over that bit. Never seen one in the flesh and now look at us.’ Kas gestured around at the pale, inhuman faces clustered in two groups. Several pairs of hands were moving rapidly, the glow of fingertips leaving a faint trail in the air.

‘Looks like they can’t believe it either.’

‘Or they’re debating how to eat us,’ Kas said with a small shiver. ‘Those eyes creep me out.’

Lynx couldn’t argue there. The lower pair was set slightly further apart than the upper pair and he could see the pale slit irises swivelling as they conversed, keeping a wary watch in all directions. The thirds were the most garrulous, in so far as Lynx could guess from the gestures, and were at the heart of both discussions, but nothing he saw bore out Kas’s worries.

A flash of movement made him raise his gun, almost firing on the lithe figure descending the uneven pile of rocks until he recognised it. The largest of the warriors bounded down past him, fingers pulsing bright until it reached the tunnel floor. It looked around for Toil then saw her away down in the tunnel and made a quick gesture. She sprinted back without saying a word, kicking up dust and stirring the mercenaries to shrug off their packs ready for a fight.

‘Something’s coming,’ she hissed. ‘Don’t fire unless you have to.’

Lynx felt a jolt in the gut at her words. There were few Duegar ruins in So Han but they’d still heard the stories of maspids – a monster to scare children and adults alike. Toil raced past him and hopped up the smaller fallen rocks so the mercenaries followed, Anatin waving Olut back to watch their rear.

‘Burner in the pipe,’ he hissed as he went and Olut nodded, patting the closed breech of her gun to indicate she already had a fire-bolt loaded.

Lynx laboured up the easiest path he could find, struggling his way to the top where the warriors, Toil and Teshen waited. Beyond the barrier he could see only a solid wall of darkness, but as Anatin joined him the leading Wisp warrior hurled a fistful of fire down the tunnel ahead.

The magic made no sound, just the hiss of flame over stone as it struck thirty yards away, but it was enough to cast some small light over a stretch of ground. Lynx flinched as he saw jagged shapes dart away from the light – angular shadows writ large on the rough tunnel walls.

‘Fuck me, this ain’t good,’ growled Varain, tracking a dark body with his gun until it melted into the darkness a moment later.

‘No guns unless they charge,’ Toil muttered as a zip of air was followed by a whip-crack of stone on stone up ahead.

A series of rapid clicks emerged from the darkened tunnel, darting back and forth like orders being shouted, before falling briefly silent. Lynx glanced over and saw the stone mage silhouetted against the fire circling its kin’s hand. As he watched, a walnut-sized chunk of stone darted out into the dark along with a second stream of fire. This time something alive was struck, the brief wash of flames illuminating a bulky body.

It reeled and flipped over and away from the fire, a chatter of furious clicks emanating from it. Larger than a man but hunched, a pale belly and darker limbs, that glimpse alone enough to remind Lynx of the stories he’d heard. Thick, blade-like limbs and a great maw of teeth – blind, but able to sense their prey and move with deadly speed.

Again the creatures disappeared into the darkness, but the Wisps seemed to know where they were still and one flash of movement drew an arrow from Kas as the warriors continued their barrage of fire and stone. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, it was over and all went still. Lynx blinked at the darkness and noticed how sweaty his hand was against the stock of his gun, wiping it on his coat before scanning the tunnel ahead for movement.

‘They’re gone,’ Toil announced as the warriors straightened and one padded back down to where the labourers waited.

‘Sure?’ Lynx asked, his mouth dry.

‘They are,’ she said with a nod at the Wisps. ‘Good enough for me, they’re the experts.’

‘Will they come back?’

‘Doubt it. Think there were only a few and we winged some.’

‘How can you tell?’ Kas asked, relaxing the tension on her bow.

‘The sound. They make a crackling sound when you pierce their carapace.’

‘I didn’t hear that.’

Toil shrugged and started back down the rubble to fetch her pack. ‘Was your first time, you’ll miss a lot.’

‘Those were maspids?’ Kas pressed.

‘Aye, but just a few of ’em and they weren’t expecting us. If they’re the ones doing the ambushing, they’re a whole lot nastier.’

‘Anything we need to know for next time?’

Toil stopped. ‘They’re quick,’ she said after a moment’s thought. ‘Quick and tough, but they die like everything else. If they charge, shoot ’em. If you miss, get the fuck out the way.’

‘What about the noises?’ Lynx pressed. ‘That clicking sound? They were talking, right?’

Toil snorted. ‘Oh aye, they’re smarter’n wolves and a whole lot nastier. Don’t expect a conversation out of ’em, but they’re good pack hunters and they know how to use the dark. That wasn’t an ambush; we’d not spot that until it was too late. They’re clever enough not to hunt Wisps unless they find ’em alone, but humans are another matter. Wisps reckon they can smell fear, gets ’em all hungry and worked up.’

‘Why didn’t you tell us that before?’ he snapped.

‘Easy,’ she called over her shoulder, dropping down on to the tunnel floor. ‘You might not’ve come.’

Lynx wasn’t sure how long they walked. An hour, half a day, he couldn’t tell. Just like when he’d been in prison, his time underground seemed unreal and dislocating. A permanent night that left daylight a mere memory. They rested after a period of time, probably more for the labourers than the mercenaries but still Lynx and his comrades sank gratefully down against the rough stone walls. Varain sang a low, mournful folksong as they settled, but after a minute or so tailed off without finishing, and then they sat in silence.

The scraps of sleep they’d managed in the past few days were starting to count against them. Sitain was struggling the most. Though she was strong and young she had no experience of forced marching and the light-stepping Wisps set a hard pace. As for the others, they could maintain the march for a while longer but there was a dulling of their edge, each passing hour adding weight to their weapons and packs.

They made no fire, resting only for an hour before setting off again, and Lynx found himself staring at the faint traces of light that veined the stone walls. Whether they came from some lichen or strange mineral he couldn’t tell, but Toil’s curious lamp magnified the bare gleam that came from them. Without it the tunnel might not be perfectly black, but would be as near it as would make no difference to human eyes. The Wisps clearly could see better and carried no lamps themselves, nor much of anything at all.

He realised they had very little equipment with them, which told a tale of how close they must be to their settlement. A few weapons and small packs on the backs of the warriors, tools and baskets of food for the labourers. This was not an expedition of several days but a regular trip to tend their strange gardens. Lynx tried to hold on to that thought, the idea of some sort of underground village a point of reference in his mind.

The darkness remained oppressive, but the scale of the tunnel and the light-garden had diminished the squall of panic at the back of his mind. It remained, but the tall tunnel was a far cry from the cramped and winding paths he’d been used to. It was broader than any road he’d walked on, with the prospect of some sort of ruined city at the end. None of it was ideal, but at the same time it wasn’t the panic-inducing disaster he’d feared.

‘Anyone else missing the Skyriver?’ Varain muttered, looking around at those beside him.

Kas grunted and nodded as she massaged her foot a few yards away, having jarred it on a stone a while back.

‘Hard to,’ Sitain said, looking up, ‘with all this on show.’

‘All what?’

‘You can’t see any o’ this?’

Varain squinted up. ‘I see the lines of rock, bluish veins glowing very faint.’

‘Ah. I, ah, well, it’s better for me.’

‘How much better?’

Lynx saw Sitain’s face twitch and guessed she was grinning. ‘Like every sapphire in the world got set into the stone above me, forming a map of every road, river and stream on the continent.’

‘Huh. So better’n a bluish glow then?’

‘A bit, aye.’

‘Still wouldn’t mind seeing the Skyriver again,’ Lynx said.

‘We’ll get there,’ Toil called. ‘Maybe a day or two. Can you hold out ’til then?’

‘I’m fine,’ he growled.

‘If you say so.’

‘You got a problem?’

Anatin made an angry sound in his throat. ‘The pair of you, shut it.’

‘I’ve got no problem,’ Toil continued, ignoring the man completely. ‘The dark takes some different to others, that’s all. Took me a while to get comfortable underground, there’s no shame in feeling twitchy.’

‘Glad to hear it,’ Lynx said, pushing himself to his feet again. ‘Now I got your approval, mebbe it’s time we kept moving?’

‘We move when our friends want to,’ Toil said, but as she spoke the warriors seemed to rise as one, apparently prompted by Lynx. She shrugged. ‘Or you could have it your way.’

With little to do but hoist their belongings on to their backs, the party soon resumed their long trudge down the tunnel. It was surprisingly level going. Any incline up or down remained shallow and was soon corrected, restoring them to a plane not far below the surface, by Lynx’s estimation.

It was a dull and functional tunnel, though, roughly made and lacking anything in the way of detail or variety. Eventually they reached an arched exit that at least bore some sort of deliberate stone-working. The Wisp warriors had checked it for safety before Lynx even reached it and they led the mercenaries into a great high chamber with a small pool just about visible in the centre.