Fifthwind (49 page)

He
planned to pay another visit to Belfrey and Hodge during the morning
and offer whatever specifics he could regarding the Murg and their
methods. Their men would need to be as prepared as possible to face
this threat, and he was uniquely qualified to pass along details of
the enemy. He also needed to smooth over any bruised egos. It was
imperative that both men have unfettered loyalty and unburdened faith
in his leadership and were willing and able to pass that on to the
general ranks. He knew that without trust and respect, a leader has
nothing.

For
the moment, he was happy to spend a quiet morning with his friends,
and let those outside worry about keeping an eye on things. Old Jimmy
had prepared yet another hardy breakfast and Ben was more relaxed
than he had been in weeks. Kyla reached for his hand and gave him a
knowing squeeze; the quiet would end soon enough, so they might as
well enjoy it.

Mason
and Megan sat side-by-side across the table, and Vincent talked
quietly with Cobalius. James Holton was more interested in his food
and was eagerly carving into a ham steak. Elsewhere in the room, the
surviving townsfolk were waking from a peaceful night's sleep and
servers quickly met their needs by placing food and drink on a
central table for all to share. Even a familiar young boy had
recovered from his wounds and resumed his duties checking the windows
and doors. Ben still felt responsible for the boy's injury, but was
inspired by his strength to forget the past and move ahead. Paul
would grow to be a strong and admirable man and Ben was already proud
to know him. He shrugged off his worries, smiled and reached for a
knifeboard of bread and cheese.

"Lieutenant
Karr!" called Paul, who had just finished checking the front door.
The one-handed boy pointed his stubbed right wrist out the window.
"The Gray Man is outside, and he has just killed the Murg that Mr.
Cobalius had chained up."

Mason
said, "Impossible! I posted a guard."

"He's
dead too," Paul announced solemnly.

Ben
bolted to his feet and made for the door as fast as he could. Just as
he burst out onto The Step, he saw a fleeting glimpse of the Man in
Gray just before he vanished into thin air. There was nothing he
could do but stand in the cold and wish he'd been faster.

Cobalius
approached the dead Murg and knelt to examine the creature. "His
throat is cut. This is not the actions of The Core. We are dealing
with something else."

"What
do you mean? Whoever did this didn't want to be discovered. Of course
they'd kill it."

"But
not by coming here personally to cut its throat. The Core have much
more powerful means of disposing of someone. Horribly and from a
great distance. The Core is definitely here, but they are working in
league with someone else."

"So
what are we going to do now?" Mason asked.

"Well,
we know who it wasn't," Cobalius said. "That's a start."

Mason
perked up with the revelation. "That's right, most of us were
inside together."

Kyla
said what was on everyone's mind, "Except for William."

Mason
said, "Brother Babbitt spends almost everyday in his tower, and
only comes to the tavern at night for safety. So, it's not all that
unusual for him to be missing in the mornings. At night, when the
attacks come, he is almost always with us."

Cobalius
nodded. "Maybe it's Babbitt, or maybe not, but we can safely assume
that the Man in Gray is not one of us here. That narrows things down
a lot."

Gordo
gripped his sword. "I say we go pay a visit to the Temple of the
Two Sisters. We should do it now, while it's still early. If he's
innocent, then this is just a rescue mission, he doesn't need to be
keeping himself locked up in there."

"Agreed,"
Cobalius nodded. "The five of us should be able to handle anything
we encounter."

Ben
counted the group and knew that Cobalius was including Kyla in the
team. Mason and Gordo were very capable; he wasn't worried about
them. Cobalius along with himself possessed certain advantages of
their own. Kyla was a force of untested strength, though she had
proven herself to be dangerous when necessary, but he didn't like the
idea of her coming along.

Cobalius
stood silently with his eyes closed and with concentrated shallow
breaths. A second later, he snapped open his eyes in shock and looked
around at the small group. "We go now, while the full day is ahead
of us."

Ben
saw the apparent concern on Cobalius' face. "Is Babbitt the one?
What did you see?"

Cobalius
seemed distant in his thoughts and was slow in answering. "I
couldn't find Babbitt anywhere inside the tower. I looked everywhere.
But, there are nearly a hundred Murg massing at its base. Either he's
behind this, or he's in dire need of our help."

Ben
quickly turned to Gordo. "Go tell Belfrey and Hodge to be prepared
for a defensive, then get back here as fast as you can. We don't want
to escalate things, but when we shake that hive, who knows what will
come out."

Kyla
said, "What if it's a trap to lure us away from the Masked Pig?"

Cobalius
pointed north and said, "That's why Belfrey and Hodge have to stay
behind and be ready for anything that might come screaming down that
road. Get word to your father. Tell him to get everyone down into the
sub-levels. Lock the doors and post guards. If we find anything that
confirms Babbitt's guilt, we'll pull back and reevaluate our next
move. This is to be an exploratory mission only."

The
temple of the Two Sisters stood like a broken finger, sticking up out
of the snow, the top half having toppled centuries earlier. The
structures surrounding the base of the main citadel were in equal
stages of disrepair. The ruined keep would have looked completely
vacant, if not for two things: The yellow banner of the Two Sisters
fluttering in the wind high above the curtilage below, and the fact
that the courtyard was crawling with a writhing mass of Murg.

The
small team of five circled around through the woods and approached
the tower from the north. From their position beneath the trees of a
nearby wooded hilltop, they could clearly see what was happening
below without revealing themselves. Whether Babbitt was behind the
recent events or not, the Murg were massing in numbers never before
seen. If they were to attack the town, it would be devastating.

The
Murg appeared to be restless, as if they were trying to gain entry
into the tower. Perhaps Babbitt was trapped inside and in need of
help. Perhaps they only sought to be closer to their master. Why they
had now chosen to reveal themselves in daylight was a mystery, but a
thought occurred to Ben.

"Do
you think there's been a break in their ranks? Maybe they're turning
on their keeper."

Gordo
shook his head and pointed, "The Man in Gray is in there. He's
moved past that window twice now and if my eyes are a good judge of
things, he didn't look worried."

Cobalius
said, "I've seen him too, and Gordo's right. This is a gathering,
not a siege. It's a massing of forces before a major assault. The Man
in Gray is preparing for an all-out war on us, and it's coming soon."

Ben
closed his eyes, "I'll take a closer look and see what I can find
out."

Cobalius
shot his hand forward and gripped Ben's arm. "No!"

"What's
wrong?" Ben said, startled.

"The
Core are vastly powerful, but lack the ability to see the Witherscape
or those that would use it to spy on their activities."

"Exactly,"
Ben said, "so I can take a closer look without any worry of being
detected."

"No,
the Man in Gray is working in league with The Core, but he is no
sorcerer... he's a Fahd. He will see you."

"Are
you sure?"

Cobalius
wrung his hands almost nervously. "I don't know who he is, but he
definitely exhibits our skills. The Murg know this too, that's why
they fear him. You have to remember that 'Fahd' is a Murg word that
means something along the lines of 'Master'. Long ago, they learned
to fear and respect practitioners of our skills. The man in that
tower is a traitor, and until we know who he is, we have to get our
intelligence the old-fashioned way."

Mason
bit his lip, looked decisively at the others and said, "I say we
force his hand and see what his intentions are."

Cobalius
asked, "What did you have in mind, Sergeant?"

"A
surprise attack of our own. Let's head down this hill and take out as
many of them as we can and see what he does. What's the worst that
could happen?"

Kyla
looked at the big man like he had lost his mind. She said, "Oh, I
don't know, maybe they would regroup and come after us..."

Mason
nodded sincerely. "You're right, Kyla, and I understand your
concern, but they're going to do that anyway sooner or later. I'm
tired of being on the defensive."

Gordo
moved to stand next to Mason. "I'm in. Let's hit them hard and then
run like hell if we have to."

Ben
had kept quietly to himself for most of the discussion, but now broke
his silence. "Any number of things could go terribly wrong."

Kyla
shook off her worries and balled a fist. "No, Mason's right. We've
been on the receiving end of this for too long. Ben, you've already
seen what I can do, and I've gotten a lot stronger since I
accidentally broke that wall down in the Pig. Believe me. A lot
stronger."

Cobalius
suddenly became interested in the proposed plan. "How much
stronger?"

The
clouds hung low and cast dull, slow moving shadows over the rolling
hills of the north valley. The morning was quiet and peaceful, only
the fluttering of the citadel's flag disturbed the tranquility of the
scene. That, and the hundred or so restless beasts that had gathered
in its shadow. The massing Murg milled about in the tower's curtilage
as if they were arriving for a morning sermon. They were unaware of
the five figures taking up positions around the temple.

There
was no longer any sign of the Man in Gray or any other human
representative, for that matter, among the Murg. Cobalius was still
surprised that The Core had not shown themselves but he was utterly
convinced that the Man in Gray was only a renegade anomaly with
Fahd-like skills and that the real threat remained hidden.

The
entire valley was unusually still, and a murder of crows from the
temple grounds took flight as if knowing it was a good time to vacate
the area. Not too far outside the walls of the compound, Kyla and Ben
took up their position. They were naked to any eyes that might stray
toward the open field of snow where two solitary figures stood alone
on a white expanse of vulnerability.

She
raised her hands to the sky and in a gentle, almost graceful dance
with her fingers, she started pulling energy to her. She smiled as
she beckoned each strand of fleeting force from the sky, trees and
ground around her. The Fifthwind was an orchestra, and she the
composer as the two found balance and beauty in the entwined
relationship. It was hard to believe that something that appeared so
graceful could be so deadly.

Ben
stood at her side and hoped that she could weave her spell before the
Murg noticed them. He had never been able to see the beautiful hues
that Kyla mentioned, but he watched as flowing ribbons of colorless
energy wrapped around her hands and into a radiant ball of power
invisible to all but him as he stood awestruck in the Witherscape,
witnessing the very life force of the world being concentrated before
his eyes. It did not take long before she had wrangled a tremendous
amount of that energy.

She
trembled, in an effort to contain the raw force, a pulsating
heartbeat which ached to be released back into the world. She seemed
so fragile, and yet so strong at the same time, her hair lifting in a
nonexistent breeze, and her eyes a cold, fierce and icy blue.

She
was beginning to shake with the strain, and when it appeared that she
would not be able to hold it any longer, she closed her eyes and
whispered words in a language that Ben did not understand. The
pulsating mass of energy contracted into a tight ball of brilliant
white fire, a huge force contained in a tiny package. Without waiting
a moment longer, she opened her eyes and flung her spell toward the
compound.

The
sphere of crackling energy flew the distance quickly and on impact,
an entire building on the south side of the tower disintegrated in a
violent upheaval of dust and pulverized rock. The explosion threw
debris and bodies high into the air, to fall as dark blemishes onto
the surrounding white meadows. At least a full score of Murg were
strewn dead or dying across the fields outside the tower's grounds.
Ben lifted a hand to shield his face when the heat of the explosion
reached him. The force of Kyla's spell was much more than he had
expected.

The
resulting panic of the Murg was a gross display of undisciplined
madness. The terrified beasts scattered in all directions and cowered
under the falling rubble and bodies. With no apparent leadership to
guide or reassemble them, it was like watching animals run in
frightened circles, unsure of which way to go. It took a while for
the dust to clear and reveal the complete absence of the building
that had once been there.

Ben
watched as Cobalius began his phase of the work and was taking
advantage of the resulting chaos in a methodical way. The Master Fahd
moved in and out of the retreating mass of Murg, exacting death as he
went. Appearing and then vanishing, he was never in one place long
enough to be detected, but with plenty of time to injure or kill with
each stroke of his deadly blade. Ironically, it almost did not seem
fair that there were only a hundred of them to face the might of
Cobalius.