Under Fragile Stone (30 page)

‘There's a hard left turn coming up!' Emos shouted to him. ‘Be ready for it!'

They steamed ahead again and no sooner had they taken up position in front then Jube was swerving down a track barely wide enough for the wagons. Just visible in the
tangled
trees, it was signposted with a horned goat's skull hung with flowers. Cullum hauled the steering wheel round and followed them down the steep, dark, muddy trail. There were painted bone sculptures hanging from the trees along each side and they clacked and rattled against the sides of the cab.

Jube shook his head as he steered the wagon down the trail. It did not look like it led anywhere. If the Reisenicks got them cornered, they were done for. The track dipped and then rose again. There was a gate ahead, bearing a sign
written
in Reisenick. Jube gripped the wheel and drove right through it, careering out into daylight. They were in a green meadow dotted with mounds, each with its own bone
sculpture
atop it. In the middle of the field, at its highest point, stood a wood-and-hide hut that appeared to be some kind of shrine. Jube drove around in a circle, looking for a way out. There was none. They were trapped.

Emos slapped the top of the cab.

‘We can stop here,' he called in to the miner.

‘What are you talking about? They've got us now. We've had it!'

‘No, we'll be all right for the moment.'

Cullum and Khassiel were just coming through the gate. 
The first Reisenick wagon wasn't far behind. Emos turned to Taya and Lorkrin.

‘Right, before the clansmen catch up and see you. I've got a job for you.'

He murmured a few words to them and they took to the air, flying off towards the shrine at the top of the meadow.

‘Where are we?' Rug asked, looking up from the floor of the flatbed. ‘Won't they catch us here?'

‘This is a burial ground,' Emos told him. ‘And it's going to give us a chance to clear the air.'

A swarm of blind creatures herded Nayalla, Mirkrin,
Paternasse
and Noogan away from the light and back down the passage to the junction. The four fugitives backed away from the mass of small bodies, reluctant to make any move that might trigger an attack.

‘I've no more fight left in me,' Noogan whispered.

‘I'm all tuckered out myself,' Paternasse hissed. ‘But they won't take me easy, all the same.'

They were steered up one of the branches, along a steadily narrowing tunnel that cornered left, then right, then left again in the way they had seen under Absaleth. The ceiling got lower and soon they were scraping their heads against it. This was even more unnerving, for the Seneschal crawled along the walls and ceiling as easily as they did the floor and some of the advancing creatures were right at face height.

‘I thought they wanted us out,' Nayalla wondered out loud. ‘Why are they leading us away from the portal?'

‘Might be that their plans have changed a touch,'
Paternasse
grunted. 

He and Noogan were carrying the torches, but they were no deterrent against the Blind Battalion. Behind the sightless troops, other breeds were following in the gloom beyond the glow of the burning powder.

‘This is one of the defensive passages,' Nayalla said. ‘I think I know what they're doing. They're going to push us in so far that we've no room to fight.'

‘We'd best stop here, so,' Mirkrin replied, and did exactly that.

The others halted too, the four of them planting their feet and standing their ground. A quiver went through the mass of the Seneschal and a voice called out from behind the blinded.

‘You will keep walking, please, or you will be
disassembled
where you stand.'

It was Leggit – or one of his fellow Scouts.

‘Come on then, if you're want to try it!' Paternasse yelled, wearily.

‘Keep walking, please.'

The four of them looked at each other.

‘This is too much, altogether,' Noogan whined. ‘I'm not budgin'. I'm not going to be herded like a sheep to the slaughter.'

Nayalla cocked her head to one side and gazed at the Seneschal bristling around them.

‘They're not pushing us towards something,' she said at last. ‘They're pushing us
away
. They want us for themselves. I think …'

A buzz of clicking teeth carried like a wave across the
bristling
bodies and the Seneschal turned as one to look back down the corridor. A light grew from around the corner and 
the main force of Seneschal filtered through from the back, shoving the Blinded forward to face this new adversary. A figure carrying what appeared to be a lantern came around the corner. The light swayed from side to side, moving with the gait of the bearer. The Seneschal were growing frantic and some started pushing the four fugitives further down the tunnel. But the way was blocked by still more of the little animals, some of which were scurrying away in terror.

Nayalla and Mirkrin placed themselves between the two miners and the approaching light. In the moving shadows, it seemed to be an old woman, with a jutting brow, hidden eyes and a long face that peered through curtains of straggly hair. Then the Blind Battalion attacked and the light went out. There was a deep, guttural snarl and the noise of
skittering
feet and clicking teeth filled the air. But these were drowned out by shrieks and the sound of tearing flesh.

‘By the gods!' Noogan sobbed. ‘What is it?'

With the light gone, the Seneschal positioned behind the Blinded threw themselves into the fray. Paternasse and Noogan held up their torches, trying to see what was
happening
, but all that could be seen was a wave of small,
quivering
bodies swarming down the tunnel into the dark. More wet, ripping sounds erupted, and the stink of freshly opened insides filled the passageway. The Seneschal suddenly turned tail and fled past them.

‘Run!' Paternasse wailed.

But there was nowhere to run to; the tunnel behind them was crammed with the bodies of the Seneschal, fighting to get past one another. Clawed, padded feet bounded towards them, and Mirkrin and Nayalla turned back to face the oncoming predator, baring their teeth and raising their claws 
as it clambered over a heap of mutilated Seneschal corpses. A light flashed on suddenly, dazzling them and then a heavy body crashed into them. They were both smashed off their feet, Nayalla thrown against the wall, Mirkrin falling beneath the attacker. He ripped at the insides of the creature's legs with his long claws, and buried his fangs in its belly. The skin was sour and smelled rotten. He opened his mouth and bit in again. The beast seized his shoulders with powerful talons and hauled him forward, tearing his teeth free.
Nayalla
was jammed against the tunnel wall by its bulk. She fought back, raking her claws across its shoulders and neck.

It was as large as both of them put together, and far more powerful. It had six legs, two of which extended forward like arms. The ‘lantern' was a glowing, bulbous sac of some kind of chemical that hung from a single antenna, protruding from the top of its head. It went out again as they tackled it, leaving them with only the light from the torches. Its jaws were mounted on each side of its huge head, closing
horizontally
rather than vertically, with some of its teeth facing outwards, obviously for pulling the flesh away from the bones that were its food. Its hide was tough and leathery.

A Myunan could mimic the appearance of a skack, but not its talent for killing. The beast shook the shape-changers loose and crushed Nayalla against the wall, its massive jaws closing to grip the sides of her head. She slunched with a scream and slipped her head free, much to the creature's surprise. Mirkrin picked himself off the ground and slashed their attacker across the eyes. The animal's bony brow
protected
it from being blinded, and it swivelled to face him, moving awkwardly in the tight confines of the passageway.

As it turned in the torchlight, he saw that lumps of bone 
stuck out from its brow, forming a rough impression of a face, the ‘old woman's' hair simulated by a rough mane that hung down from the narrow ridge atop its skull. It clacked its teeth together and lunged at him. He sidestepped it, but there was nowhere to go in the small tunnel and it caught hold of him, slamming him against the ground. Nayalla lashed out, hitting the stalk that held the creature's lamp. It hissed and flinched, then moved with lightning speed,
jamming
its claws up against her body, pushing her against the wall. This time it seized her too suddenly for her to escape and she gasped as its teeth dug into her.

Paternasse and Noogan ran at it, shouting and waving their torches in an attempt to draw it away from her. It snarled at them, but did not release her. Paternasse tried to drive his knife into the creature's side, but the beast twisted sideways and the blade was deflected by its tough hide. Paternasse caught a clawed foot in his chest and was thrown back down the passageway, his knife falling near Mirkrin's feet. Noogan thrust his torch in its face, but it knocked the cold flame away. Mirkrin jumped up, shedding his skack form as he did so. He had seen how the thing had reacted when Nayalla slashed at its antenna. He picked up
Paternasse's
knife and slashed the blade through the bladder that formed the animal's lantern, cutting a long gash through its skin. An acrid-smelling liquid sprayed out and Mirkrin felt something burning his eyes and nose. He staggered
backwards
, but even as he did, he heard the beast howling in pain. The howls carried away down the tunnel and then he felt hands helping him up.

He rubbed frantically at his eyes and somebody poured water over his face. Eventually, he was able to open his eyes 
and look blearily around. Noogan was standing holding an empty canteen and Paternasse was tending to Nayalla, who was bleeding from wounds to her chest and belly. There was no sign of the Seneschal. He scrambled over to his wife and knelt by her side.

‘I'm all right,' she told him. ‘I'll be fine.'

But her voice was shaking and he could see it hurt her to breathe. His sight was still blurry and he rubbed his sore eyes.

‘Is it gone?' she asked.

‘It's gone. We got it,' he told her. ‘Lie still, don't talk, love. We need to patch up these wounds and then you'll be right as rain.'

‘I can still hear it.'

The distant howls were echoing down the tunnel. Mirkrin threw an anxious glance at Paternasse. The old miner shrugged. There was no way to be sure if they had driven it off for good.

‘Don't worry about it. It's gone,' Mirkrin insisted. ‘We're safe.'

Nayalla patted his hand.

‘You never could lie worth a damn, dear.'

17
G
REAT
A
UNT
E
LDRITH

The Reisenick wagons rolled into the burial ground, but unlike Jube and Cullum, they did not drive in among the mounds, stopping just inside the gate. Ludditch climbed down from the back of his vehicle, the expression on his face a mask of hate. He strode over to where Emos stood waiting with his arms folded.

‘You’ve crossed the line now, Myunan!’ Ludditch exploded. ‘You hurt my kin, you kill my brother and now you’re trespassin’ on hallowed ground. That’s going to get yuh an ugly, painful trip into the earth!’

Emos regarded him with equanimity.

‘You’re still wearing my tribute, Ludditch.’

The Reisenick pulled the pendant from his neck and threw it at the Myunan’s feet.

‘Take it back then!’ he snapped. ‘I’ll strangle yuh with it when yuh leave here. You think you’re safe just ’cause you’ve got yourself onto sacred ground? You can’t stay here forever.’

‘I’ve been travelling through these lands for years, since your father’s time,’ Emos continued. ‘You’ve always respected the tribute system. Now you turn your back on centuries of tradition. For what? What’s got into you, Learup?’

‘You’ll find out soon enough.’ 

‘Well, if you won’t talk to me, maybe your father will,’ Emos said, seeing Ludditch Senior climbing stiffly down from the back of the wagon.

He also noticed Kalayal Harsq, standing behind the rest of Ludditch’s clan. Harsq looked scared, and he was keeping his distance from the Reisenicks. Ludditch Junior glanced back and scowled at the sight of his father hobbling towards them on his canes.

‘You stay there, pappy!’ he called. ‘I’m dealin’ with this! There’s no need to bother yourself there.’

He rounded on Emos.

‘I’m chieftain, you talk to me or nobody, got it?’

‘I want safe passage to Old Man’s Cave, and then from there back to the border.’

‘Do you now?’ Ludditch snorted. ‘How’s about I get my mama to rustle you up some constant stew and a tray of her fine flapjacks to help yuh on your way? The only way you and your friends are going to make it back across the border is as part of my wife’s winter wardrobe. We’ll see how her new Myunan-skin skirt goes with her Parsinor-hide boots.’

‘What in the blazes is goin’ on here, Junior?’ his father came up behind him.

‘I’m handlin’ this, Pappy.’

‘That’ll be why there’s cousins out lyin’ dead on the road an’ outsiders walkin’ on your kin’s graves then. Handlin’ it indeed.’ He turned to Emos. ‘You got yourself a deathwish, Harprag?’

‘Just trying to find out why we’ve been hunted ever since we crossed your border, Mr Ludditch. All we want is for your son here to abide by the tribute system, as it has always been in the past.’ 

‘My boy’s got little respect for the past,’ the old man wheezed. ‘But he’s got big plans for the future. You’ve just gone an’ got in the way. Now, you’ve had your little
chin-wag
. Get yourselves back on your wagons and leave our burial ground before you taint it any further. We’ll be waitin’ for yuh outside. The boys’re keen to get their knives into yuh an’ I’ve promised my daughter-in-law I’d be home in time for supper. She’s cookin’ up a sinker crab special like, so I’d thank you not to delay me any further. The longer you make me wait, the longer young Learup here’s goin’ to take
despatchin
’ yuh. He’s a genuine artiste with a skinnin’ knife.’

‘I want safe passage to Old Man’s Cave,’ Emos repeated. ‘Some of my family are trapped in the catacombs down there. It could take us several days to search for them. After we get them out, I want an escort to the border.’

‘Why are you tryin’ to bargain?’ Ludditch Junior frowned, looking suspiciously at the other members of the would-be rescue party. ‘You ain’t got nothin’ to bargain
with
.’

‘I’m just trying to appeal to your generous nature,’ Emos said, spreading his hands in a placating gesture.

Taya and Lorkrin stood inside the shrine at the top of the mound, the door of which was out of sight of those involved in the negotiations. Still in their batlike shapes, they were both feeling a little queasy about what they were going to do.

‘Do you think it’ll fall apart when we pick it up?’ Lorkrin whispered.

‘I don’t know,’ Taya replied. ‘I’ve never stolen a dead body before.’

In a tall chair in the middle of the tiny building sat the 
preserved corpse of an old woman. Just as the Reisenick chieftain’s male ancestors were valued for their presence in council, so too were the females, who watched over the other dead. Every major Reisenick burial site in the Ludditch territory was protected by one of the clan’s former
matriarchs
. This old lady was dressed in long, old-fashioned robes, heavily laden in jewellery and scented with stifling perfume to hide the smell of the preservatives. The two Myunans screwed up their faces at the stench.

‘We need a bag or something,’ Lorkrin said.

‘Let’s wrap her up in her cloak.’

‘Right, then.’

It was a tricky business. They did not want to waste time having to resculpt themselves, so they made do with their wings as they were. Pulling the dead woman’s cloak from her shoulders, they laid it out on the floor and then pushed her body out of her chair, letting it fall onto the cloak. Then they wrapped her up in it as best they could, pinning the bundle with the same sturdy broaches that had held the cloak to her shoulders.

‘We should have taken off the jewellery,’ Taya tutted. ‘That’s going to make her heavier.’

‘There’s only so much of this sickness that I can take,’ Lorkrin muttered. ‘She can keep her bloody jewellery.’

The younger Reisenicks were growing restless. The
clansmen
would not violate the sanctity of the burial ground, but they were keen to finish off the outsiders. Emos watched them impassively, with Draegar standing like a pillar of stone by his side. Behind them, Cullum and Khassiel leaned 
against the front of their wagon, weapons at the ready. Only Rug and Jube looked anxious – facing death at the hands of bloodthirsty killers still being a relatively new experience for them. They could not see any way out of this. Ludditch was right; they couldn’t stay here forever.

‘If your kin are down in those caves,’ the chieftain was saying, ‘then they’re done for. You don’t know what’s down there. Those tunnels are a maze, and they ain’t empty. Yuh hear what I’m sayin’?’

‘I can’t give up on my family,’ Emos told him. ‘And there are signs that can be read down there, if you know what to look for. Caftelous showed me how.’

‘The hermit? Didn’t tell me about no signs.’

‘He hated you. Why would he tell you anything?’

‘I got wondrous powers of persuasion, particularly when I’m tryin’ to learn some history.’

Emos stared hard at him.

‘He disappeared a few years ago. Did you have anything to do with it?’

Ludditch chuckled.

‘Damn, Harprag, I’d everything to do with it. It was me who killed ’im! After I was done with ’im that is. Dumped what was left of ’is body in the woods for the animals.’

The Myunan’s face was expressionless, but his eyes burned with hate.

‘All this is going to come back on you, Ludditch.’

‘I don’t think it will, somehow,’ Ludditch laughed. ‘And certainly not at your hands, Myunan. If it wasn’t for my respect for our dead, we’d fall on yuh right here. But you go on and stay here, we can wait you out. Sometimes huntin’ is all about waitin’ …’ 

His voice faltered as two winged figures appeared over the roof of the shrine, carrying a long bundle between them. Their wings beat the air urgently, the two creatures gaining height and flying away over the trees.

‘What the blazes is that?’ Ludditch rasped.

‘If I read the sign on the gate correctly,’ Emos replied, ‘it’s your Great Aunt Eldrith.’

Ludditch and his father looked in horror at each other and then started to spit curses at Emos, but the Myunan held up his hands.

‘You’ve been threatening us with torture and death since we crossed your border, so save your breath. We’ll assume that this means you’ll kill us even slower now, if you get the chance. But know this, Learup. If you ever want to retrieve your great aunt’s corpse, you’ll give us safe passage to the cave, you’ll wait while we search for our people, and then see us from there to the southern border. Then, when we’re back in Myunan territory, we’ll return old Eldrith in the same perfectly preserved state that we found her. Make any move against us, or even get in our way or try to slow us down, and my nephew and niece there will start dropping pieces of her all over the forest.

‘I’d suggest you send some birds out and make sure none of your hunters try shooting the young ones down. You wouldn’t want them to drop the old girl from such a great height.’

‘Harprag,’ Ludditch snarled. ‘I’m goin’ ta …’

‘Spare me,’ Emos cut him off. ‘We’re leaving. Don’t get in our way.’

He walked back to the wagon and climbed in beside Jube, who was sweating profusely and uttering prayers to
Everness
under his breath. 

‘I was scared before,’ he said. ‘I’m ready to soil myself now. They’re going to go insane over this.’

‘They can only kill us the once,’ Emos reassured him. ‘This way we have them over a barrel. Not even Ludditch will brook risking the body of a dead relative. They had it in for us anyway. I’ve just raised the stakes. He’ll have to let every hunting party and lookout from here to the cave know that we’re not to be touched. We’re safer now than we were before they found us.’

‘That may be so, but just the way they’re lookin’ at us is loosenin’ my bowels. Where to now?’

‘Back onto the road, the same way we were heading,’ the Myunan replied. ‘We’ll be there by the afternoon.’

Jube shifted into gear and drove down towards the
Reisenick
horde. They slowly parted in front of the vehicle, but not before each one looked the intruders in the eyes. Some of the oldest were by the gate, determined to be on the expedition despite being barely able to walk without canes or staffs. Every one of them had murder written on their face.

‘Everness protect us,’ Jube muttered.

‘And Eldrith too,’ Emos added.

Lorkrin adjusted the grip his prehensile toes had on the bundle and pushed down against the air with his wings.

‘I’m getting tired,’ he gasped, at last, embarrassed that he had said it before his sister.

Taya nodded, already too out of breath to answer, but relieved her brother had spoken up first.

‘He said we could come back to the wagons once they were on the road,’ Lorkrin panted. ‘He said we just had to 
give Ludditch time to give his orders. Let’s catch up with them.’

‘Okay,’ Taya replied.

They both looked down in surprise as the expanse of trees gave way below them and they found themselves flying over what looked like a freshly ploughed stretch of land. It looked so out of place that they kept looking at it and noticed that the ground appeared to be moving, as if it were alive, clumps of it kneading together and breaking apart in perpetual motion. It was not unlike watching a mass of
maggots
writhing together. The noise was a constant rumble, like white water, but with a gritty edge to it. They flew lower to get a closer look. Every now and then, a spout of soil burst into the air, and while they watched, some trees at the edge of the clearing had their roots eaten away and with
tormented
groans they toppled to the ground. Each was
swallowed
up with frightening speed, the weaker branches and twigs broken and crushed in the malevolent earth’s grip, the trunks engulfed with a sound of straining, tearing wood.

‘Krundengrond,’ Taya breathed.

They spiralled upwards over it, higher and higher so that they could look out over the land. It was not the only stretch of fresh earth in sight. The closer to the mountains the expanse of forest got, the more they could see it was broken by gaps in the trees.

‘It’s spreading,’ Lorkrin shouted between heaving breaths. ‘Draegar was wrong, it is here. This is what Ludditch was waiting for. But what’s it got to do with Absaleth?’

‘Don’t know … but he sounded pretty sure of himself,’ Taya replied, wearily. ‘He thinks we’ve got this god-heart … must mean Orgarth’s heart. Wonder what that is.’ 

‘Remember Harsq did that thing on the stuff, the second time, I mean?’ her brother wheezed.

‘Yeah,’ she panted, knowing he was referring to the
exorcism
on the scrap.

‘Well, if that nail was stuck in Draegar’s back …’ he heaved in a breath, ‘… then it didn’t get exorcised, did it? Maybe the heart…is the bit left after all…the rest is gone.’

‘Can a god fit in a nail?’

‘Maybe he’s a very small god…who knows what size any of ’em are … when you get right down to it.’

‘Uncle Emos’ll know,’ Taya called back. ‘What I want to know then, is … what’s it got to do with Rug? He was the one … who kept the nail.’

With the dead body in its robe dangling from their feet, they sought out the road and soared along it until they came upon the wagons, the rescue party leading, followed closely by Reisenicks. The two Myunans glided down towards Jube’s wagon. Dropping their hostage into Draegar’s upstretched arms, they flopped to the floor of the flatbed and squatted wearily, trying to get their breaths back.