Tivi's Dagger (14 page)

Lana laughed. “You’re right, Ned. I
have not felt in engaging in any
love
with a single man we have met so far.
Brindar’s Protector gear does us no favors either, and I wish he
would stop wearing it. Perhaps they think him likely to commence
some wearisome sermon at any moment. In any case, there seem to be
few visitors so far into the country. It is an all too common
thing, to dislike that which is unknown.”

“
If
we
were neighbors to the un-named lands,” Kel said, falling into
step beside us, “we would likely be just as suspicious. We should
be thankful that this nation is well-organized and armed enough to
keep the warlords in check. Can you imagine Lis faced with such a
threat?” He shook his head. “We would be overrun in no time by
warlords and worse. It would be complete chaos.”

“
It is already chaos,” Lana said. “But
you are right, Kel. We should be more grateful that Methar has
stood so stoutly between us and even more dire threats than those
we pose ourselves.”

The mists had descended from the mountain
caps once more, leaving the warm caress of the sun just a pleasant
memory. The air had cooled and the trees were alive with birdsong.
We passed a trap with an unfortunate rabbit caught inside, destined
to be the Keeper’s first meal. Eventually we came upon the mouth of
the tunnel and Brin went about forging some flame using some dry
sticks. As I watched smoke begin to rise from where he was rubbing
the wood together, Kari touched my elbow.

I looked at him and remembered the sunshine.
He was smiling, that wide warm grin that made my insides feel like
melting ice. The back of my hand brushed against his as he stood
waving the warriors goodbye. I struggled to overcome the urge to
take him into my arms and kiss him silly. I cleared my throat.
“What news did the warriors bring? You seem quite relaxed, despite
what lies ahead.”

“
It is an odd thing, Ned. To realize
that the world can be such a terrible, dangerous place and yet to
be so happy.”

I glanced into the darkness of the tunnel
then back at Kari. “It certainly is.”

“
News, yes. The Agents of the Blood
Red and their necromancers have been put to death and their foot
soldiers routed. The warriors initially feared that this incursion
may just have been a diversion from a more serious attack, but it’s
not the case. It’s been clear for some time that the warlords are
too busy battling each other to muster any serious threat to
us.”

“
Thank the Thirteen,” Kel said. “So we
will see no more of the Night Walkers, I pray.”

“
Not for now, if Matativi wills it.
But the soldiers also spoke of something much more fearsome ahead,
but wonderful all the same.” One of those wide, wonderful grins
spread across his face. “A dragon has been spotted resting atop the
mountain at Thar Mati.”

Brin paused in his work. “What?”

“
A dragon, Brindar. Isn’t it
marvelous? To think that we may be privileged enough to lay eyes
upon such a creature!”

Lana nudged me, beaming. “The one thing we
never saw in all our travels!”

My passion for travel reignited for a
second. I grinned and gave her hand a squeeze. “Let’s hope it does
not fly away before our arrival!”

Kari turned to Brin. “A word of caution,
however. In your letter of introduction to our Temple, you did not
mention that your brother is touched by magic, Brindar. It means
that passing through Khar Tam may be riskier than I’d thought. I’d
recommend that we return and take the longer path to avoid the
place altogether, to spare Ned the ordeal.”

I swallowed. “Ordeal?”

Kari opened his mouth to elaborate but Brin
cut him off gruffly. “We do not have time to go back,” he said.
“Nedim’s magic is minimal and rarely used, and unless there are
demons in the caverns there is little to fear.”

“
No demons,” Kari replied. “But
—”

“
Then it’s settled. Dragon, demons, or
no, we press on as planned. I appreciate your concern for our
safety, Kari, but remember I was a Protector once and have faced
down plenty who burn the black candles; not only them, but the
demons they raised as well — foul creatures that sought to possess
those cursed by magic as Nedim is. Even though it may always not be
apparent, I love my brother, and will not see him harmed. Besides,
we have days to prepare ourselves, and this wretched tunnel to
endure before anything else.”

I gazed at my brother with a dry mouth as he
ground the sticks together against the head of the torch. It was, I
conceded reluctantly, one thing that the Protectors had been good
at: the suppression of demonic forces that would seek to control
any person touched by magic. But then, if Brin did not appear too
concerned about what would happen to me in the caverns, then
perhaps it was because he believed I would be safe and trusted in
his own abilities.

Perhaps. It wouldn’t possibly be the case
that my brother was in such a hurry that he would discount a dark
threat to his own kin. Would he?

Kari seemed to sense my worries and touched
my hand with a reassuring smile. “Perhaps you’ll only feel the
touch of the fae like a snowflake on your skin, as I did. In any
case it is not a long way through the caverns, my Ned. There is no
need to linger.”

The torch lit, we ventured into the tunnel.
Brin led the way, holding the light out in front and closely
followed by Lana, daggers in hand. Kel led the dubious donkey in
fits and starts, forced to stop regularly to tug and urge the beast
along. The rock surrounding us was a mass of crudely cut smoothness
of different shades of black and gray. The tunnel veered upwards in
such a way that it was impossible to see the light at the end of
it. There was no evidence of fallen travellers around, no skeletons
or scraps of discarded gear. Reassuring myself at the thought of
our fellow traveller — the woman with the huge hound — striding
through undaunted, I was greatly cheered by the thought of the
dragon, for they numbered so few that their very existence had
almost passed into legend.

The ground beneath our feet was slimy with
moss. A stale wind from beyond cooled our cheeks. Water dripped
from above us and as Brin flashed the torch this way and that, I
observed with a shiver the dark recesses which shone with spider
silk. As the darkness deepened, so the lines of silk grew thicker
until they stretched from point to point almost like ropes. We
slowed our pace, careful not to pluck them in case we stoked the
hunger of their creators. There was a distant skittering noise but
Kari assured me in a low whisper that these particular spiders and
would surely shy away from the light and heat of the fire.

Finally, the exit to the tunnel grew
brighter before us and a breath of fresh wind bearing the scent of
pine leaves lent a spring to my step. When we were finally outside,
we blinked in the light and took stock of our surroundings. Ahead
lay a fork in the road and a signpost, and to the right there was a
dizzying precipice from where the alternative path wound its way to
meet the one upon which we stood. All around us the mountains
reared up into the clouds, more spiked and sheer than before and I
realized we must have climbed a quarter-mile on our way through the
tunnel.

Lana slipped her daggers back into their
sheaths with a sigh of obvious relief. “It is a strange thing that
I do not fear to darken my blades with the blood of human enemies,
yet balk at sinking them into the belly of a spider.”

“
Blood is a far more preferable sight
to slime,” Kel said, dragging his boot along the grass with a look
of disgust on his face. I did not ask what he had stood
in.

The donkey cropped at a patch of grass, tail
twitching. Brin adjusted the rolls of silk on its back and touched
his precious box briefly before turning to Kari, who had taken the
map once more. “How long until we reach the next village?”

Kari frowned. “It is not a matter of
distance but the quality of the paths. At this height they may be
treacherous and we must watch our footing. To the right lies the
path into the valley, which will take much longer to navigate. To
the left we will continue to climb until we reach a rope bridge
which will leave us close to the village. However, I fear the
donkey will not cross it.”

“
Then let us move toward the valley,”
Brin growled, brows knotting together in obvious
irritation.

It proved to be a long and tiring day’s walk
along a winding path which, more often than not, meandered around
annoyingly to avoid spikes of rock. A rushing river cut its way
through the high peaks and its banks were lined with lush trees and
dense vegetation which provided a welcome contrast to the gravelly
and sheer faces of the peaks around. We crossed at its narrowest
point on a well-maintained and sturdy wooden bridge and paused at a
bench on the other side to eat a meager lunch of pickled roots and
strips of smoked fish. It was getting dark by the time we finally
climbed the path on the other side of the valley.

We spoke little, our muscles taxed by the
constant upwards slopes and the need to concentrate on the ground
ahead as it was stony and prone to slippage. When I laid my eyes
upon the sign which announced that we were about to enter the
village of Litmeti I felt like hurling myself at the tatty piece of
painted wood and kissing it all over.

Kel was almost weeping with exhaustion. “To
think we must return along this same wretched route!” he lamented,
tossing his braids over his shoulder.

I glared at him. “Thank you for that
unwelcome reminder, cousin.”

Even Brin seemed about to collapse. He
leaned against the donkey wearily and wiped the sweat from his
face. “If you could find us an inn right away, Kari, I will make a
substantial donation to the next Temple we come across.” An
enormous statue of Matativi loomed over a small square which was
surrounded by plain wooden dwellings. Unlike the other statues we
had seen, it was carved from a dark, polished wood and garlands of
blue flowers hung from the wrists. Most of the homes around were
built into or accommodating the sheer face of the cloud-topped
mountain with little uniformity in the manner or materials used in
their construction. All of them had little walled gardens at the
front with beautifully tended trees, boughs heavy with spring
blossoms of delicate shades of pink and orange. Candles were
already glowing at the windows. I saw nothing resembling an inn or
a shop, but I speculated that the carvings above some of the doors
were advertising what could be bought there during the day — a loaf
of bread, a goat’s head, a horse shoe, but the sight of a little
wooden baby painted in brown and blue and nailed through the head
and feet above the nearest door gave me pause for thought.

The whole village was so charming and
picturesque I wished I was in a better mood to appreciate it. I
leant my head against Lana’s as Kari went off to find us somewhere
to rest for the night. I was so tired I would have settled for the
ground where I stood, stony as it was.

“
I can’t feel my feet,” Lana moaned,
and slipped her arm around my waist for support.

We waited in slumped silence as darkness
settled in comfortably around the village. Soon Kari returned with
news of our accommodation for the night. “It is an unusual inn they
have here, but decent nonetheless. Follow me.”

The building he spoke of was little more
than a wooden façade on stilts, under which travellers’ animals
were tethered partially sheltered from the elements by a wooden
fence and the overhanging building. Two black horses stood eating
from a trough, tails twitching. Kel tied the donkey beside them and
Brin unloaded the rolls of silk and left them on the floor before
unsaddling the beast and taking his box into his arms. I was too
exhausted to care if the silks were stolen in the night and
obviously so was he.

My muscles protested as I clambered up the
ladder and inside to where the innkeep stood at a table lit by an
oil lamp. Beyond him there were more steps, leading down this time,
into a small cave which glowed faintly with candlelight. The
silence was broken by snippets of conversation. We were shown to
our beds, which were little more than rolled mats on the floor. Two
of them were occupied by a couple of women dressed in woven night
attire who ignored our greetings and continued their conversation
in hushed whispers. Ten or more mats were arranged in a semicircle
around a little statue of Matativi with candles burning at her feet
beside some glass bowls filled with wilting blue flowers. The cave
was surprisingly dry and warm inside and I collapsed onto my bed
with a groan of relief and fell asleep almost immediately,

I awoke briefly once in the night and was
not sure if I had carried my dreams into the waking world or not.
The room was cave dark and smelt of candles recently extinguished.
Kari lay behind me, snoring softly. His arm was around my waist and
I could feel his breath at the back of my neck. It was wonderful to
know he was there, solid and warm behind me, and I wished it would
always be so. My mind filled with dreamy images of us living in the
Keeper’s hut and bathing in the lake every day, snail races,
rainbows…the dreams began to swallow me up and I snuggled back
against him, smiling in the dark.

***

The next morning I awoke to find myself
alone with my brother in the cave which was bright once more with
with a fresh batch of candles burning at the statue of Matativi and
the hint of daylight making its way down the steps. Brin was
sitting on his bed among the rumpled blankets and flexing a
horribly swollen and purpling ankle.