The Broken Kingdom (37 page)

It was with Vann that she came to a decision
about how to explain the collapse of the mountain. She explained it
as a terrible, but natural, accident. The gemengs accepted it
easily. They had no knowledge of any power or technology which
would have explained it anyway, so what else could it be but an
awful tragedy? Once they met the humans it would be a huge (and
impossible?) secret to keep. But it had to be kept. There would be
no hope for peaceful coexistence if the gemengs found out the
humans had killed nearly everyone they knew, that they had
destroyed their world.

And they talked about the way she acted with
the gemengs, and the way he acted. She needed to both control them
and set an example. Vann was the first human these gemengs had ever
met. He would show the gemengs that despite the humans’ physical
weakness, they were no less than the gemengs.

Chapter 47

T
he forest was dark.
Karesh stood with his back to the fire, his eyes darting from one
shadow to another. Two other warriors were on guard duty with him,
the other six members of the group slept. The night was cool, and
the fire warmed his back pleasantly. A soft breeze blew through the
trees, rustling leaves. Or perhaps something else caused the leaves
to rustle.

Karesh stiffened as a shape emerged from the
forest. It prowled closer on four paws.

‘Knife.’ He whispered.

Kalgen, one of the other gemengs on watch,
hurriedly passed him Adila’s knife.

Karesh held it before him. The creature
crept closer, its features difficult to discern in the night. It
stopped and sat, watching them. Yellow eyes gleamed in the night.
Karesh could smell it, the stench of blood and death.

It waited, watching them for an hour. Then
it turned and left, disappearing between the trees.

Karesh did not show his relief. The others
would surely guess he feared the ehlkrid, but there was no reason
to
show
them.

When morning came they ate a quick breakfast
and set off. They set a punishing pace, and stayed close together
as they marched. The day wasn’t as bad as the night, but the
ehlkrid still approached them.

Karesh saw them throughout the day,
following through the trees, or flying above.

When they set up camp for the evening he
said, ‘how many today?’ The warriors volunteered numbers, and they
compared their counts. Twelve separate ehlkrid.

There was a moment of silence as they
considered that.

‘It’s more than last time.’ Kalgen finally
said. ‘More than yesterday.’

‘Yes.’ Karesh agreed. He noticed the gemengs
were all looking at him, waiting.

Karesh couldn’t help a chill run through him
at being subject to such close attention by the warriors. All his
life he had sought to avoid attention. He quashed his unease and
collected his thoughts.

‘We are prepared to fight, if they attack.
We have all fought the ehlkrid before. The Shining Lady’s knife
still keeps them at bay. When we return to the tribe, I will inform
the Master of the increase in numbers.’

The warriors settled down, clearly uneasy.
Observing their obvious discomfort at the presence of the ehlkrid
was a strange experience for Karesh. In some ways, he feared the
ehlkrid no more than he had feared his fellow gemengs for most of
his life. Before Aerlid fixed his wings, most of the gemengs who
had lived on the Plains had posed a real threat to his life. An
ehlkrid couldn’t make him anymore dead than a Plain’s gemeng. Even
now… he thought most were still stronger than him. His wings just
meant he could fly away to safety.

He turned his back on the fire and looked
out into the dark trees that shadowed their campsite. He expected
to reach their destination in two more days. If they found the
people he thought they would, would he be able to escort them back
to the tribe safely?

The ehlkrid’s habit of attacking and eating
each other meant that they did not often see many together. The
ehlkrid only gathered together in groups when there was an
alternative source of food around. The growing numbers of ehlkrid
following them was a source of concern for Karesh; despite the
knife, were the ehlkrid starting to see him and his group as
prey?

He stretched his wings slightly and
considered, scenarios running through his head. The warriors with
him were experienced at fighting ehlkrid. Even so, if they attacked
they would most likely have to abandon the mission.

‘Where now?’ Janisk demanded.

Karesh spared her a glance. They had come to
a forested hill. The Shining Lady had told him gemengs lived here.
He frowned as he observed the land rising before him.
Not here,
in the forest,
he thought,
that’s too exposed. There must be
something else here.
Adila hadn’t mentioned anything
though.

‘We search. Everyone, stay together, keep a
look out for any sign of shelters, or tunnels in the hill.’ He
said, and began walking to the right, planning to circle the
hill.

The others quickly followed, not willing to
be left behind. Karesh glanced at the ehlkrid that stretched, and
started following after.

It was a horned, bearded creature with a
wrinkly, red face. Karesh had never seen anything like it. Its
strange head sat atop a black, snake like body. Its body was long,
thick and sinuous. It was covered in knotted grey scars.

‘What are we going to do about that?’ Kalgen
asked him, his voice low. ‘Are we going to kill it?’

‘No.’ Karesh said after a moment. ‘If we
kill it, the Master thinks the knife will not work to keep them
away.’

‘What, why not?’

‘I’m not sure, but she told me not to engage
the ehlkrid unless I had too.’

Kalgen grumbled under his breath. ‘And what
if it attacks once we find the people?’

‘It is better they see it.’ Karesh said
quietly. ‘And make a choice, knowing the danger they will face
outside whatever shelter they have found.’

‘You sound like the Master.’ Kalgen
murmured.

Karesh glanced at him in surprise.

Kalgen dropped back from his side and said
no more. Karesh wasn’t sure what to make of the comment, a
complaint, a compliment? An observation?

I am not like the Master,
he thought,
I could not control the gemengs on my own, I have not her
power.
They only obey me now out of respect for her.

He thought briefly of when he had led the
gemengs from the mountain to the desert cave. They had followed him
when they thought the Master was dead. He discarded that thought
quickly, they had been numb with shock. If the situation had gone
on, someone would have challenged him.
But they didn’t
, a
voice said,
they didn’t challenge you in the cave either, or
while the Master was away, kidnapped and defeated by
another.

He shook his head. Authority was too strange
and foreign for him. He had a task to focus on, these thoughts were
not helpful.

He turned his attention back to the hill
they walked around, his quick eyes scanning the slope.

Two hours later, they all halted. It was a
mutual decision, as they all stopped and stared at what
had
to be the entrance to the shelter.

‘What is that?’ Telag Slippery Scale
demanded.

Karesh’s eyes flicked over the heavy stone
inset into the side of the hill. The stone formed an archway, which
was blocked by a boulder that did not match the stone of the
archway. Deep scratches marked the stone.

‘They may have barricaded themselves
inside.’

‘Hmph.
Cowards.’

Karesh turned to regard Telag quietly. ‘And
what would you do, Telag, if we did not have the knife?’

‘I would fight.’

‘And die.’ Karesh agreed. ‘Pointless, but if
that is your desire.’ He shrugged and walked over to the doorway.
He looked up at the carved stone. It looked very old. He would ask
Aerlid when they returned to the camp. Or perhaps not, the Master
would not appreciate…
Not now, Karesh.
He told himself. He
gently touched the brown boulder blocking the doorway. Seeing no
sign of traps, he knocked loudly on it, wondering if anyone would
hear him.

‘Hello,’ he called loudly, ‘I am Karesh, a
creature like you, not an ehlkrid. I would like to speak to
you.’

Not that being gemeng, not ehlkrid, will
likely be much help…
he thought.

‘I serve a Lord who can fight the monsters.
I come to offer you the chance to join us.’

There was no response.

‘What now?’ Kalgen asked.

Karesh turned around. ‘We will wait. It
would be odd if they had no way of checking what was outside their
shelter. We will wait and hope they come to us. Otherwise, we will
have to move the boulder and enter uninvited.’

‘We will fight them!’ Janisk said in vicious
pleasure.

Karesh sighed. ‘Why would we fight them,
Janisk? What would that achieve?’

She frowned at him. ‘That way they have to
follow us.’

‘That is not what the Master wishes.’ He
said firmly.

Janisk grumbled under her breath, but did
not argue.

Karesh glanced to the horned, snake-like
ehlkrid, which still watched them. Then he smiled. ‘The ehlkrid may
help us more than we thought. If the people here see it does not
attack us…’

‘It is proof of our power.’ Kalgen finished,
pleased.

Surprised at his interruption, Karesh
nodded. ‘Exactly. Let’s set up camp. We’ll wait two days.’

The others quickly set about carrying out
his orders. He watched them, once again bemused that these
creatures obeyed him.

That night they camped by the hill. The
ehlkrid crept closer, and two others joined the snake creature. The
gemengs huddled close to the fire.

The ehlkrid did not attack.

When morning dawned the two new ehlkrid
quickly slithered off, leaving only the snake ehlkrid watching.

‘Perhaps we are in its territory.’ Karesh
murmured.

‘We could kill it, if it was just that one.’
Kalgen, who sat next to him, murmured.

‘Most likely.’ Karesh agreed. ‘However you
must not forget that the ehlkrid are not all they seem. Remember
the jellyfish monster which burnt the stone?’

‘Yes,’ Kalgen shifted uncomfortably. ‘Yes, I
do. But I think we could beat just one.’

‘Most likely.’ Karesh repeated.

They had breakfast under the watchful
scrutiny of the ehlkrid. Just as they were tidying up the campsite,
they heard a grating sound. Karesh look up to see the boulder
shifting. It moved, revealing a crack, and a gemeng stepped out.
She was tall and lean, but generally looked human. She looked as
though she may have been strong and brawny once, but deprivation
had taken its toll on her.

She slid out through the crack, and turned
to look at the ehlkrid.

‘So, we weren’t seeing things. The monster…
just watches you?’ She had a rich, powerful voice, which carried
easily across the gap between the doorway and the camp.

‘Our Master has given us a tool that keeps
them away.’ Karesh answered, ‘and she offers you the chance to join
her tribe.’

‘Leave our hill?’

‘Yes.’ Karesh nodded. He did not approach
her, knowing that he did not particularly like being approached by
unknown gemengs (or well-known gemengs, for that matter). ‘We can
make it to the tribe in four days, if we walk hard all day. The
Master’s tribe is safe from the monsters.’

‘We’re safe in our hill.’ But she was
studying the watching ehlkrid intently. The ehlkrid, perhaps
feeling her scrutiny, turned its red face to hers and returned her
stare.

‘Do you have enough food and water to
sustain yourself?’

‘There is water in the hill,’ she grimaced,
‘bugs and mould too. We have not eaten meat in… in a long
time.’