Sword of Wrath (Kormak Book Eight) (13 page)

* * *

“
Y
ou want to do what
?” Orson Waters asked, jowls quivering. Great folds of fat creased around his eyes.

“I want to free the townsfolk,” said Kormak. “And I am going to.”

“I have every respect for your martial prowess, Sir Kormak,” said the merchant prince, “but it is unwise to risk all of our lives on such a foolhardy undertaking.”

“I am not asking you to risk your life. You can go back to the ship if you want.”

“Splitting the party is not a wise move,” said the merchant. His rich voice was reasonable. He was merely stating plain common sense. Not a few of the men present nodded their heads in agreement.

“So you’d just abandon the people of Fort Wrath to be eaten,” said Rhiana. She sounded outraged. Clearly she had gotten over her earlier reservations.

“I don’t see how getting eaten alongside them helps anyone,” Orson said. “I don’t see how getting killed will do those poor people any good.”

He spread his arms wide, and looked at Zamara, “Tell me, Admiral, as a military man, what do you give for our chances against the giants down there?”

“We outnumber them at least five to one,” Zamara said.

“No offence, Admiral, but is that not like having five children fighting a grown man in full armour. The fight would be a little one-sided.”

It was the wrong tone to take with Zamara. The admiral bristled. “We are not children, Goodman Waters, we are warriors. And the Guardian has already proven that we can kill the giants.”

“He is armed with a dwarf-forged blade,” said Orson. “And with all due respect, there are few men as good with a sword as Sir Kormak.”

“We have crossbows, and we have the poison that your bodyguard seems to value so highly. If he’s willing to share it, I am sure we can inflict our fair share of casualties.”

“But can we win?”

Zamara shrank visibly, looked into the dark eaves of the forest and said, “In an open battle, probably not. One thrown stone killed poor Tonus—we are lucky it did not kill more. I saw what the giants did back at Fort Wrath, and that was a strongly defended position. I doubt we can kill all of them. Sorry, Sir Kormak.”

“We don’t have to kill all of them,” said Kormak. “We don’t even have to do battle with the giants. We just have to get those people away.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” Orson asked.

“Under cover of darkness, I can slip in and break open the fence of the pen in which the humans are held. We can slip away while the giants sleep.”

“What if someone screams or gives away your location?”

“I’ll risk it.”

“You’re risking the rest of us too.”

“How? You will not be with me. You’ll be safely up here or making your way back to the ship.”

“I am just trying to point out the flaws in your plan.”

“There’s no one more aware of them than me, but I am going in.”

“It might go better if some of us mounted an attack on the other side of the beach,” said Zamara. “It would distract the giants. We could sow confusion and then withdraw.”

“You are not seriously considering we go along with this madness, are you, Admiral?”

“Those people down there are subjects of the King-Emperor just like you, Goodman Waters. They are just as entitled to his protection. If we are careful, there need to be no great risk. We can move down, attack the sentries with our crossbows, set some fires and withdraw. While we do so, Sir Kormak can go in and free the prisoners.”

“I will go with him,” said Rhiana.

“How will you set fires? Won’t it give away your position?”

“We’ll do it if we can. We can fire poisoned bolts as well. The moon will be bright tonight and the sky will be clear—there should be enough light for our purposes. If we are discovered, we will scatter into the forest and fall back along the trail to Fort Wrath when it’s light.”

Another look passed between Orson and his bodyguards. Anyone not watching for it would have missed it.

“Very well,” said Orson. “I can see there is no talking sense into you. Urag, give up your poisons to the admiral. You can accompany the guardian down into the camp. Burk too.”

He turned to Kormak and said, “There are none here who can move as stealthily as this pair. They won’t slow you down, and the extra blades might be of help.”

“Yes,” said Kormak. He did not like the way this situation was developing at all. He trusted the merchant and his bodyguards less and less with every passing moment.

* * *

O
rson stood
in the shadow of a great tree, along with Urag and Burk. He could see the Guardian discussing a few last details with Zamara. Good. It would keep him busy. Orson needed to have some discussions of his own.

“This is your chance,” he said, speaking directly to the changeling. “The two of you ought to be able to take care of Kormak and the woman while you’re out there in the trees.”

“What about the people?” Urag asked. “Aren’t we supposed to free them?”

“We won’t be capable of it, once the guardian and his woman have their unfortunate accident. We’ll just come back and tell Zamara that the giants ambushed us and were too strong. Then we’ll head back to the ship.”

“Pity about the woman,” said Urag. “I’d like to have some fun with her.”

“Maybe you can,” said Burk. “We may have time.”

Urag licked his lips. “Let’s hope.”

“Don’t be overconfident,” said Orson. “The guardian is a wary man.”

“He’s as good as dead,” said Urag.

S
lowly Kormak
, Rhiana, Burk and Urag circled the hills surrounding the bay. They moved down the slope directly behind the prison pen. It was night now, but the moon had not reached its zenith. Zamara and the marines would not attack until it was midnight, which gave them plenty of time to get into position.

They moved cautiously, testing their footing, taking advantage of cover. The slope was steep and rocky, and not easy to keep balance upon.

Burk moved easily over the broken ground. Clearly his night vision was better even than Kormak’s. He had no difficulty finding his way, even in the deepest pools of shadow. Something about his graceful progress made Kormak uneasy.

Rhiana stopped every hundred strides and concentrated. She was searching for giants using her mental powers. Kormak wished he possessed any of his companion’s gifts; he would just need to rely on better-than-average human eyesight and quick reflexes.

They hit the foot of the slope and paused in the undergrowth. As far as Kormak could tell, the giants had placed no sentries on this side of the prison pen. Perhaps they had placed no sentries anywhere. One thing Kormak remembered from his time in the Northlands was how overconfident the huge beings were. Few things in this world could match their physical strength, and this fed their sense of superiority.

He wondered whether the minds of these giants were as twisted as their bodies. Shadowblights transformed their victims both mentally and physically, and those changes were never for the better.

The smell told him where the prisoners were. The stink was appalling. A lot of people were confined together without proper latrines. Worse than that was the stench of rotting flesh from bodies left unburied. It seemed that any meat not eaten was simply strewn upon the ground.

The wall consisted of tree trunks, sharpened and driven into the ground and lashed together with twine or rope. The trunks had been sharpened at the top. The lowest was twice Kormak’s height. Within the fence, people cried and prayed.

Kormak moved right up to it and felt the wood with his left hand. There were gaps and knobs where branches had been hewn off; he could climb it if he had to. He felt a warm body beside him as Rhiana slid into place.

“There are giants all around, mostly near the ship. A few are moving, sentries or just restless would be my guess.”

“I’m going to slide around and take a look at the gate,” Kormak said.

“I’m going with you,” Rhiana said.

“Me too,” said Urag. He gave a feral smile. “Best stick together. Don’t go alone with giants about.”

It sounded as if the backwoodsman was troubled. Perhaps he could be relied upon until they were out of immediate danger. Kormak doubted Urag would put an axe in his back while it might endanger his own life. He did not want to bet on that, though.

Burk remained silent. Kormak sensed calculation in the other’s manner of a sort he did not like. Clearly here was a man weighing the odds of something. A knife gleamed in the darkness.

He looked as if he was measuring the distance between the two of them. For a moment, a sense of impending violence hovered in the air.

Kormak raised himself onto the balls of his feet, ready for any strike that might come. He could see no reason why the bodyguard would attack him under these circumstances, but that did not mean there wasn’t one. Urag and Rhiana tensed. The cross-currents here were strange. Kormak smiled at the bodyguard. There was a world of menace in the expression, and Burk picked up on it. He froze for a second.

Urag said, “We must be quiet. If giants hear us, we all dead.”

The tension drained out of Burk and he nodded.

“Let’s move,” Kormak said and gestured for the tracker and the bodyguard to lead the way. He moved immediately behind and left Rhiana to bring up the rear. Burk kept glancing over his shoulder, as if to make sure Kormak was not about to plunge a blade into his back. The man’s state of mind told Kormak all he needed to know about him. Clearly Burk feared that someone would do to him what he was prepared to do to others.

Kormak knew then that it was not just the giants who were the enemies here. He tapped Rhiana on the shoulder and leaned forward. “Be wary of this pair,” he said, so softly no one else could hear. “I do not trust them.”

She nodded.

* * *

K
ormak slid
up to the corner of the pen. All around him on the beach, he could see huge sprawled shapes. The longship lay on the sand like a beached whale, large as a row of houses in the moonlight.

A sentry stood near the pen’s gate. The giant leant heavily against the fence, a club lying near at hand.

From all around came the sound of rumbling snores. Something huge growled, a menacing, feral noise. Rhiana closed her eyes.

“Some of the giants are stirring,” she said. “If you’re going to do something, you’d better do it soon.”

They huddled back in the shadows. “I’m going over the wall,” Kormak said. He looked at Urag. “When the attack comes, use that poisoned axe on the sentry. Lure him away from the gate.”

Urag nodded. Burk’s face was blank. He seemed to be considering his options. Kormak tapped Rhiana on the shoulder and backed away, keeping his eyes on the bodyguards. Rhiana followed him.

Burk and Urag watched them go. Both of them looked tense. Kormak wondered if they were about to attack. Nearby, a giant’s voice rumbled out, reminding them all of their potential peril. Urag and his companion froze into stillness. It would have been unwise to do anything else.

Kormak and Rhiana rounded the corner of the pen. As soon as they were out of sight, Kormak stopped and listened, waiting to hear if they were being followed.

“What is it?” Rhiana asked.

“I didn’t like the way Burk was looking at my neck and fingering his knife.”

“I wondered why Goodman Waters was so keen that they accompanied us. You think he wants you dead? Why?”

“I’ve made a lot of enemies in my time.”

“One of your many gifts.”

“I have a bad feeling about that pair, and I’ve learned to trust my instincts.”

“Since you’re still alive, that would seem wise. Still, you may have made a lot of enemies, but I can’t think of why they would want to kill me.”

“They might not want witnesses.”

Rhiana was silent for a moment, then nodded. “What now?”

“We go over this wall and make contact with the prisoners.”

Kormak pulled himself up, using the knots in the wood and slid over the top of the fence. He lowered himself from the spiked points, clambered down and dropped the last six feet, landing near someone in the dark. Rhiana followed.

A body stirred in the gloom. A child whimpered. Suddenly Kormak had no doubts about being here, about the rightness of what he was doing. He had taken an oath to protect the innocent, and he was going to keep it.

He moved across to the sleeping figure. Someone looked up and saw his figure was human sized. “Who is it?” said a woman’s voice.

“Is this child yours?” Kormak asked.

“Yes. I don’t know your voice—are you one of the sailors?”

“My name is Kormak. I am a Guardian of the Dawn. I have come to get you out of here. This is Captain Rhiana.”

“What?” The woman had at least enough sense to keep her voice low.

“The King-Emperor’s soldiers are waiting outside. They are going to attack the giants. When your captors are distracted, we’re going to take out the gate and run for it.

“That’s madness. The giants say they’ll kill us all if anyone tries to escape.”

“They are going to kill you all anyway. You know that. This way you will at least have a chance. You and your child.”

The woman nodded her head.

“You have a leader? A captain of the guard, a mayor, anyone?”

“The guards were all killed when the giants stormed the fort. The mayor got eaten yesterday. The priest Rik has been preaching to us. People will listen to him. I will take you to him.”

* * *

L
eading
her little boy by the hand, the woman led Kormak through the crowd. Sensing something happening, people came awake all around him. Perhaps they had not been asleep anyway. Under the circumstances, most people would find it difficult to rest. Rhiana followed along, a scarf draped around her neck, hiding her gills. It was a wise move. Best not to spook these scared people with her alien appearance.

She led him to an old white-haired man, lying near the gate. He wore tattered robes, and a hood fell back from his tonsured head. He came awake slowly as the woman shook him.

“Frater Rik, wake up.”

“Has someone else died, my child? I will say the words.” His voice was quiet, cultured and resonant.

“No, there is someone here to talk to you.”

The priest looked up at Kormak’s shadowy outline. “There’s only one sort of man wears a sword on his back,” he said.

“I am a Guardian of the Order of the Dawn, Frater. I have come here to free you.”

“Then the Holy Sun has answered my prayers. Did you bring more of your Order? Sunflares? Sorcerers?”

“Only myself, Frater, although there are some soldiers in the hills.”

“You do not sound entirely confident, my son.”

“We have enough people to provide a distraction, not win a battle against so many giants. We have a ship in the harbour. People can either hide in the forest or head out to sea. Once out there we will be able to escape the clutches of the giants.”

“It does not sound like much of a plan.”

“It was the best I could do on short notice. I did not expect to be encountering blighted giants on this island. I am on my way to Terra Nova, on the King-Emperor’s business.”

“I do not mean to sound critical, my son. I am just astonished that you would come in here on your own. Karla, get Jed and Leo and Karel over here. We need to start planning for the breakout now.”

The woman hustled away. The old priest looked up at Kormak, then got painfully to his feet. “I fear I will only slow you down when we go. I am not as young as I used to be.”

“We’ll get as many away as we can,” said Kormak.

The old man nodded. “They came out of the woods after darkness fell,” said Rik. “The night after the great storm. I heard sounds like an earthquake and buildings falling. I did not know what was happening. No one did. Then they came from the forest and started rounding everyone up. They drove us across this bay and penned us in like animals, and every day they roast a few of us over the fire as if we were slaughtered hogs. Some of the people went mad. I told them to keep the faith, that the Holy Sun would protect us…”

He broke off and Kormak realised the old man was crying. “I doubted. I thought we were forsaken. But you came…out of the darkness, a warrior of the dawn. It is like something out of scripture.”

Kormak found himself moved by the old man’s words. Since Gerd’s death, he had been feeling useless and self-pitying and full of doubt. He could see now that there was still work for him in this world, still evil to be opposed, still people that he might save.

The others came out of the darkness and he spoke to them, and told them what they must do.