The Bones of the Earth (The Dark Age) (50 page)

But your amulet is important. It, like the dagger, is one of the Three Companions.

“
That again. Theodor—I mean, Tiana—figured that out from reading the runes on the blade. What are the Three Companions?”

Three artefacts made before the race of man was born: the dagger, made from the bones of an ancient dragon; the amulet, made from what you perceive as our scales; and the third, the Eye of Knowledge, which appears to you as a large jewel or stone, and grants the holder answers he seeks. Kriemhild already has it, and if she holds the others as well, she will be unstoppable.

My focus is the dagger. I was trying to take it from you in our first encounter on that mountain-side. We must stop Kriemhild and restore the dagger and the Eye to their rightful holders. Will you help me?

“
Will you help me get my dagger back?”

Yes.

“
Then let’s go.”

Chapter 32
:
Barbarians versus monsters

Malleus could not believe how brave and stupid Javor could be. The boy tore out of his grasp and ran straight toward hell: barbarian warriors and monsters slaughtering each other in the middle of the night, back-lit by a rising half-moon.

But his astonishment reached a new peak as he heard a loud rushing noise and a huge black shape dropped from the sky.

“
The dragon!” Tiana screamed behind him. It swept between them and Javor, grabbed him in its front claws and disappeared. Malleus, Tiana and Austinus could only gape after it. “Javor!” Tiana screamed and ran a few steps after it, but it was useless.

Malleus pulled them to relative safety under some trees beyond the wall. They threw themselves into the darkest shadows. Malleus crept back on his belly to see what was happening.

Miro, the thin warrior, was slashing off the heads of the snake-thing that had confronted Javor, but didn’t seem to be having much of an effect. Other warriors were cutting monsters apart and getting bitten, slashed and gashed. There were bodies everywhere.

“
It’s the man who freed us!” Tiana gasped. She pointed at the warrior who had caught Austinus. He was close to them, facing something that seemed to be nothing but a gigantic mouth on legs. Its jaws gaped open to show rows of teeth long as knives. It snapped at the warrior, who fell back and dropped his sword. He was helpless. The monster knew it and seemed to relish the moment.

Malleus sprang forward, swept up the fallen sword and frantically slashed at the thing’s leg. Black blood spurted, but Malleus knew to dodge it. Its leg gone, the monster toppled sideways and snapped madly. A hideous whine came from its jaws. Malleus stabbed downward as hard as he could into what he thought might be its brain. The monster twitched, but the whining stopped. He yanked out the sword.

“
Thank you,” the Sklavene warrior said in accented Greek. “Give me my sword—I must help my brothers!” Malleus complied, and the warrior leaped back into the middle of the camp, beheading something that had just killed a man.

Malleus saw another sword, dropped by a warrior who had been bitten by something that looked like a pig’s head with legs. He swept up the weapon and jumped beside Miro, who had just killed another monster. “You and I, Sklavene, back to back!” Miro nodded. Back to back, swords out, the two whirled in unison as they slashed through the demons. They were unstoppable, each protecting the other’s back, moving almost instinctively as though they had been practising this move for years. They ripped through fiend after monster, saving Sklavenic warriors from horrible deaths—until they confronted Stuhach, and Malleus’ borrowed blade broke on the fiend’s hide. They stopped, looking up at the thing’s wide, hideous mouth. That mouth gaped wide, revealing rows of triangular teeth. Spit dripped from the forked tongue as Stuhach prepared to swallow Malleus whole, like a snake.

“
STOP! STOP! STOP!” The voice was high and thin, but commanding. The monsters immediately froze, and the men hesitated, then looked toward the remaining campfire.

It was Ingund. “Stuhach, cease this stupidity right now!” The monster looked at her, and she returned its gaze, staring directly into its eyes. “If you do not quell your creatures immediately, you will have my mother to answer to.” Incredibly, it bowed and sputtered something in a ghastly language. The other monsters also bowed toward the princess.

“
Miro, as the daughter of King Ingolf, I command you to tell your men to put away their weapons!” Miro looked at the men, then at the princess. “Miro!” she repeated, almost screaming. “Bury my uncle!”

Miro looked at the monsters to make sure they were not going to move, then sheathed his sword. He nodded at two men, and they pulled Stanislaw’s body into his tent.

The monsters withdrew into the darkness. Ingund took over the command of the troop, ordering groups to bury the dead and tend to the wounded. There were not many left unhurt.

Austinus, Malleus and Tiana were left on the sidelines, but they didn’t dare wander out of the flickering circle of firelight. They huddled together. Tiana looked at the purple bruise on Malleus’ head.

“
Ingolf! That old scoundrel is now calling himself ‘king of the Goths’!” Austinus whispered.

“
So it wasn’t Bayan, after all,” Tiana replied. “Somehow, they have manipulated the Avars into taking the brunt of Imperial wrath…”

“
Don’t forget the Sklavenes,” said Malleus. Maybe it was the blow to the head, but he did not seem to be sneering as much as usual. “They’re they ones who have been doing most of the fighting.”

“
Be silent, witch,” said Ingund, approaching. “Tell me how you got here and what happened to that annoying puppy-dog, Javor, or I’ll have you all killed on the spot!”

“
You’ll kill no one, Ingund!” It was Miro, striding back from Stanislaw’s tent. “These people were my prisoners, and now they’re free. On my honour, I must protect their lives.”

“
Don’t you dare speak to me that way, Miro!” Ingund hissed.

“
Shut up, Ingund! Being the Queen’s daughter may mean something in Rome, but not to me! Is what he said true? You and he are lovers? And what about what the fiend said—are you pregnant? Is that boy the father of your baby?”

“
Oh, please! I haven’t even seen him for more than ten months! And don’t you think I can do better than some boy from gods-know-where?”

“
Oh, yes, you are the ‘Princess of the Goths’! I forgot!” Miro scoffed. “Well, to me you are merely my younger, spoiled cousin whose mother filled her head with grand ideas.”

“
Oh, really? Do you forget who stopped the
chorteh
?”

“
You were the one who made an agreement with the spawn of Hell, and because of it my father is dead! Now go and tend to his body or I’ll take you over my knee, ‘princess’!”

Ingund huffed, but stomped into the tent. Miro looked after her for a moment, then turned to the three. “Well? Who was your friend, and where did he go?”

“
His name is Javor, and it looked like he was carried off by a dragon,” Tiana answered.

Miro took a few moments to absorb that. “I am sorry. At first, I thought that ridiculous, but after all I have seen tonight, well, I suppose it must be true. And I am sorry for your loss.”

“
And we are truly sorry for yours,” Tiana replied. “But I do not fear for Javor’s safety. I do not know why, but somehow I feel he is safe.”

“
How can you say that?” Austinus said. “That was the dragon that took the dagger from the armory and burned off Philip’s arm. It has been hunting Javor for months.”

“
I know. Still, I cannot quell this feeling I have. I think the dragon meant him no harm. After all, it flew him out of harm’s way when it could have very easily slain him on the spot.”

“
This discussion is useless,” Malleus said. He seemed to be recovering some of his composure. “What do we do now?”

“
For now, you will wait with us. Your fate is tied to ours now, unless you want to face those
things
out there,” Miro said, nodding into the darkness where Stuhach waited with its companions. “For my part, I prefer to have as many men with me as possible right now. And women,” he added. Tiana nodded.

“
What are we waiting for?” she asked.

“
For our transportation to the Hall of the Mountain King,” Miro explained. “Our King also made an alliance with Krum Chimmek, leader of the Kobolds. They are expected this night.”

“
Kobolds!” Tiana exclaimed. “More fantastic creatures!”

“
No, not fantastic,” Miro said. “They are people who live in the mountains. Small, yes, and very shy, usually, but also very skilled at metalwork and making marvellous machines. They will help us return to Ingolf.”

“
I thought Ingolf was dead,” said Austinus.

“
No. He is rebuilding the Ostrogothic Kingdom. But I have probably said too much already. You had better tell me who you are and how you found us.”

Austinus took a deep breath, but Tiana answered before he could. “We are mystics from Constantinople, and it is our role to preserve civilization by learning about, and destroying threats to it—like those monsters out there.”

“
And how did you find us?” Miro pressed.

“
We were just following the trail of the men who rescued Ingund from Constantinople. But we were also guided by our friend, Javor, who has a mystic connection to that dagger that the monster Stuhach wears around its waist.”

“
How is he connected?”

“
The dagger is his. Or at least, it was in his possession for some time.”

Malleus added, “He has used it to kill monsters and at least one dragon already.”

“
My friends!” Austinus exclaimed. “I must protest at this far too candid sharing of secret knowledge! I am sorry, Miro, but really, we hardly know you.”

“
In our situation, my dear, our best hope to survive is to share as much information as we can,” Tiana argued gently. “Miro has shown good faith by telling us as much as he can. By combining what we know, we can perhaps deduce more.”

“
So, if the dagger was Javor’s, how did Stuhach get it?” Miro asked.

“
Good question,” said Malleus. “The last time we saw it, that dragon stole it from
us
. Now it’s taken Javor, instead.”

“
How did Stuhach get it from the dragon?”

Tiana, Austinus and Malleus looked at each other and collectively shrugged. “Another mystery,” said Austinus. “The origins of the dagger are also unknown.”

“
What’s so special about this dagger?”

“
Have you ever tried to kill a dragon?” Malleus said. “You saw how Stuhach’s hide broke that sword; only a dagger like Javor’s can cut it.”

“
Your friend has miraculous qualities,” Miro mused. “He also seemed to set Stuhach on fire, which started this fight. But enough—the Kobolds have arrived!”

From the river, they could see a glow drawing closer. Gradually, it separated into several lights, not flickering like torches, but shining steadily. The warriors drew into formation, ready for anything. Ingund came out of the tent to greet the glow.

Out of the woods along the river came a procession of very short, stocky and powerful-looking men. They all had long beards and wore chain mail and beautifully decorated helmets. Each had a double-headed axe slung across his back. The light, almost as bright as daytime, came from ten glowing globes on long poles.

Their leader was the stockiest of them, with arms as thick as Stanislaw’s. His beard was silvery and his helmet was adorned with a dragon made of gold. He stopped in front of the Gothic warriors and stomped his foot, and all his followers stopped in time. “Where is Stanislaw?” he demanded.

Miro stepped forward. “Dead. Killed by Stuhach. I am Miro, his son and now commander of this company.”

Ingund pushed between the warriors. “Where have you been, Chimmekin? You are late!”

The Kobold leader barely looked at her. “I am Krum Chimmek, Truth-Speaker of the Kobolds, young lady, and my elite company and I have arrived at precisely the appointed time. I am disappointed to be met, not with the befitting protocols, but by a smart-mouthed girl and the signs of a terrible battle. What has happened here?”

“
We were awaiting you when those
chortek,
the demons, attacked us without provocation,” said Miro, bowing to the dwarf.