Sword of Wrath (Kormak Book Eight) (9 page)

“I’ll remember,” he said.

She lay down beside him and stared at him with her strange green eyes. “What will become of us?”

He looked at the ceiling for a moment. “I don’t know. I wish I did.”

“Do you intend to keep hunting monsters in the dark until you die?”

“It’s not just about that,” Kormak said.

“Isn’t it?”

“I am helping people,” he said. “Saving lives. Sometimes.”

“Is that why you do it?”

“It’s one reason. You do not have to come to Terra Nova if you do not want to.”

She stared at him silently for ten heartbeats. He felt as if he was being judged, and refused to look away. He was very aware of the warmth of her body alongside his. “The people on this ship must think we are an odd couple,” she said at last.

“Let them.”

“We are an odd couple. A moonchild and a Solar Guardian. Most people think we should be sworn enemies.”

“Life is rarely that simple.”

She laughed softly. “There’s an understatement.”

“I have a gift for that sort of thing. Do you want to go with me to Terra Nova?”

“I am not doing anything else at the moment.”

“I thank you for your enthusiasm.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I like having you around.”

“And I thank you for your enthusiasm.”

He took her hand and squeezed it. “That is not common for me. Normally I pass through places, rarely get to know anyone for longer than a few weeks or months.”

“Boo hoo.”

“Normally I like it that way. It keeps things simple.”

“Should I be flattered?”

“People who are close to me get hurt. Killed sometimes. It has been happening since I was eight years old.”

“And you’re scared it might happen to me?”

“Aren’t you?”

“I looked after myself for a long time before we met, Sir Kormak. I can look after myself now.”

“I am sure you can, Captain Rhiana. But it’s as well to remember I have enemies.”

“You’re not the only one. And somebody needs to look out for you.”

“You volunteering?”

“I’ll give it a try.”

“That gladdens me.”

“You should do that more often.”

“What?”

“Smile like you mean it.”

He laughed. “I’ll bear that in mind.”

The ship rolled moving them against each other. Her body was soft against his as they embraced.

Z
amara lifted his spyglass
, squinted into the morning sunlight and surveyed the horizons, turning a complete circle to look in every direction. Kormak did not doubt he had been there since before dawn.

“That’s odd,” said Zamara.

“What?” Kormak asked. He turned from admiring Rhiana where she leant against the bannister, looking backwards over the ocean.

Once again, the admiral had invited the two of them to the command deck to witness the approach to the Outward Islands. It was a mark of his special favour. He was letting the passengers know it, even if they disapproved of Kormak and Rhiana. The guardian suspected that perhaps their presence reassured the admiral. They were familiar faces to have around while he grew accustomed to his unfamiliar role.

“I would have thought we would have encountered something by now, even if it was only a fishing boat,” Zamara said. “We’ve been in sight of the islands for hours and nothing.”

“You think so?”

“The seas here are full of fish. It is the islanders’ staple food. A small fleet of boats is normally at work by this time of day—there should be gulls following them. There should maybe be an Imperial cutter come out to escort us in, or at least to see what we are about. There’s nothing.”

Zamara sounded as agitated as his exalted status on the command deck allowed him to be. His voice held a little tinge of worry that meant he must be troubled indeed.

Zamara said, “Captain Rhiana?”

“Yes, Admiral,” she said. There was none of her usual tone of mockery. She knew she needed to show respect for Zamara. More than that, Kormak suspected she did respect him.

Zamara kept his voice low so that only the three of them heard. “Is your familiar about this morning, perchance?”

Rhiana nodded.

“Has he spotted anything unusual?”

“One moment, Admiral.” Rhiana closed her eyes and concentrated for a few heartbeats. “There are a number of tasty fish, but nothing much else.”

“No monsters. No strangeness. No magic in the depths?”

“Not any threat of the kind a dolphin would notice, Admiral. It does not mean there is nothing, but he is likely to sense evil magic or blight, or something like the Quan.”

Zamara nodded and wiped his brow with his sleeve. He was relieved about something.

“Is something the matter, Admiral?” Rhiana asked.

Zamara said. “Look around you—what do you see?”

“Nothing. And…” Rhiana fell silent as she noticed it too. “No ships. Not even a fisherman’s cog or a rum-runner. That’s not usual in this part of the world. You think something is wrong in Fort Wrath?”

Zamara shrugged. “It might be nothing. But it never hurts to be cautious.”

“The port may be quarantined,” Rhiana said. “An outbreak of plague perhaps.”

“That thought had occurred to me, but I would have thought there might still be some craft from outlying crofts. Somebody always breaks a quarantine. I’ve spent enough time trying to police such things to know.”

Kormak shielded his eyes with his hand and stared towards the shore. “No plumes of smoke. No sign of battle,” he said.

“Might not be any if the port was attacked a few days ago,” Rhiana said.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Zamara said. “We don’t know that anything has happened at all.”

His tone made it clear that he did not believe that, but he was still trying to remain outwardly calm.

“As you said, Admiral, it never hurts to be cautious.”

Zamara turned and beckoned to Terves. “I want all your men on deck and ready for action. Full drill.”

“At once, sir,” said the sergeant. He caught the note of urgency in Zamara’s voice and began to bellow orders to his troops. Zamara gave instructions to the sailors; he wanted extra men aloft in the crow’s nest, and he wanted all of the sailors ready for emergency manoeuvres.

Having made a decision and given the commands, he looked more relaxed. Kormak understood that. As a leader, Zamara had done all he could at this moment in time. Now, like the rest of them, he had to wait.

* * *

A
s they approached Fort Wrath
, a crowd of curious passengers assembled watching the marines drill, staring at the shore, looking around wide-eyed. They sensed the tension in the crew, even if they had no idea what was going on.

Kormak stood beside Zamara as the admiral studied the approaching town through his spyglass. A small keep bestrode the hill on one side of the harbour. Kormak guessed it was the fort from which the town took its name.

“No signal flags to greet us. No cutters. No yellow flags with a green teardrop.”

“No plague then,” Rhiana said.

“Nothing of any sort. Take a look at the harbour.” He handed Kormak the spyglass. The guardian focused it on the distant harbour. He saw whitewashed buildings running all the way down to the wharf side. Stone piers reached out into the waves. He adjusted the magnification. What appeared to be leafless trees emerged from the water; it took him a moment to realise they were the masts of sunken ships.

Zamara noticed his expression. “Yes. Every ship in there is either fled or on the bottom of the harbour.”

“Not a single soul visible either. No dockers. No sailors. No vendors. The whole place looks deserted.”

“We’ve seen something like this before,” said Zamara. He was clearly thinking about the village of Wood’s Edge where they had first encountered evidence of the Kraken’s ravaging.

Kormak nodded. He had seen things like this many times in the past. He felt no need to mention that—Zamara was worried enough as it was.

“An attack then,” Kormak said. He focused the spyglass on the fort. The walls were damaged. The tower had partially toppled. The place had been besieged. There was no sign of any people. “Slavers?”

“We’re a bit far north for that, and the Carcereans know there would be reprisals. When was the last time you ever heard of slavers attacking a fortified garrison?”

“I’ve seen them do it in the far south, but I can’t imagine they would want to provoke the King-Emperor’s vengeance.”

Zamara bellowed down to Terves, “I want your men ready to go ashore and search for survivors. I want to know what happened here.”

“With your permission, I will go with them, Admiral,” Kormak said. “There may be work for me here.”

Zamara looked as if he was considering refusing that permission for a moment, but in the end he said, “Stick close to the marines, Sir Kormak. I want no men lost here if it can be helped.”

“I will go too, Admiral, if it pleases you,” said Rhiana. “I had friends here.”

Zamara sighed. “I fear you may have lost such friends as you had, judging by appearances, but by all means go. We need someone to keep the Guardian out of trouble.”

* * *

T
he marines rowed
towards the pier. Behind them, all of the catapults and ballistae of the
Pride of Siderea
pointed landward. The windcaller stood there as well, ready to draw on her magic. The galleon was in a position to give them covering fire if the worst came to the worst.

Off to the right, a fin cut the waves of the harbour. Kormak was not sure what the dolphin could manage if they were attacked, but at least there would be some warning if any threat emerged from the water.

Uneasiness kept him swivelling his head. He did not like being trapped on this small, swaying wooden platform, surrounded by the marines. There was hardly room to swing a blade if it came to a battle, and the footing was unsteady for swordplay. He would never be at ease on boats, no matter how much time he spent on them. He was a mountain man at heart.

Kormak was glad when they reached the pier. He made sure he was the first to swarm up the metal ladder fixed to one of the wooden pylons. The soldiers were only too glad to let him. Beneath his feet wooden planks flexed, but they felt somehow more solid than ship’s timber.

Terves’s grizzled head rose into view, and then came Rhiana and the rest of the marines. The company formed up, ranged weapons held ready by the crossbowmen. Shield bearers flanked them. Terves gave the order and the company marched off the pier, and into the streets of the harbour front.

Slates strewed the streets. Huge boulders protruded from broken roofs. Windows were smashed. The smell of old burning drifted through the air. Maybe the attackers had tried to torch the town; more likely, fires had started when someone kicked over a lantern in panic and the flames had spread.

“There!” Terves said, pointing at a corpse in the street. It was rotten and limbs were missing. Carrion birds rose squawking as Kormak strode towards it. Covering his mouth, he crouched over the body. The corpse was decomposing. Bits of gristle and tendon showed from one shoulder and one knee. It looked like the arm had been torn out of its socket. The lower half of the leg had been severed by something blunt and powerful.

“What in the name of the Light did this?” Terves asked. His face was pale. Terves had seen such horrors before when they had pursued the Kraken. He was a steady man, but even he was shaken. Some of the younger marines looked as if they were going to be sick.

Kormak looked around and saw what he expected. About ten strides away lay broken bones. Flecks of flesh still clung to them. He picked one up. It had been cracked, and the marrow sucked out. He pointed this out.

“What does that to people?” Terves asked.

“Orcs sometimes,” Kormak said.

“You think there are orcs here. I always heard they hated the water,” Rhiana said.

“Most of them do—can’t stand being on it. Some clans have taken to the sea. The rest regard them as mad,” Kormak said.

A muttering swept through the ranks. The marines looked relieved. At least orcs were something they understood—a foe that could be faced and overcome. Even a horrifying enemy was preferable to the unknown.

“You think it’s orcs then,” said Terves. He sounded as if he wanted to make sure.

“Maybe,” said Kormak. “There are other things that eat human bone marrow. Some of the Old Ones consider it a delicacy. That, and human brains.”

The marines stared at him. Their unease had returned. Terves noticed that. “If it’s an Old One, your blade can kill it,” he said.

“Yes.” He looked at the sky. “If it’s an Old One, you’ll be safe as long as you stay in the sunlight. Be careful if you go indoors, or into shadows. Don’t go into any cellars or dark places without calling me.”

“You heard the guardian,” Terves said. “Pay attention if you value your lives.”

Rhiana placed a hand on Kormak’s shoulder. “I don’t sense the presence of anything like an Old One close by.”

“Doesn’t mean there isn’t one. It might not be close.”

She nodded.

“I think you’re right. This does not have the feel of the Old Ones to it.”

He stood up, glanced around. Terves stared at him. Under the circumstances, he seemed prepared to defer to Kormak.

“Let’s get going!” Kormak said. “Stick together. Keep your weapons ready. Look for survivors.”

He already knew they were not going to find any.

* * *

T
he fortress looked
as if it had been battered with siege engines. Huge boulders lay at the foot of its walls, along with splintered bits of stone that had fallen from the battlements. In places, the walls were cracked. The gate had been smashed open. In the courtyard within lay an uprooted tree.