The Silent Isle (16 page)

Dane heard
running footsteps take off in the direction of the gate. 

He turned to
Leech.  Leech turned to his patient.  He set a candle by Markis's
head and seemed to give a little start.  Dane moved closer, trying to see
around Leech's body.  Leech put his hand to Markis's throat and pulled it
away almost immediately.  He rounded on Dane.  "What the hell,
Dane?  Is this some kind of joke?" 

"Of course
it's not a joke; he could be dying." 

"Dying?"
Leech said, almost shouting.  "Dane, this man is dead." 

"That's
impossible." 

"It's
undisputable," Leech said. 

Leech was
blocking Dane’s view of Markis, but he couldn't believe what he was
hearing.  "The men saw him walk right up to the wall.  Then he
collapsed.  Maybe if we'd gotten to him a few minutes sooner we could
have..." 

"A few minutes?"
Leech said.  "Dane look
at his color, feel his skin.  This man has been dead for
hours." 

"But that
can't be." 

"See for
yourself," said Leech, stepping aside and holding his hand out towards the
body. 

Dane did not
move.  His mouth was hanging slightly open and his eyes refused to
focus.  "Oh my god," he breathed. 

"What?"
said
Leech.
 

Dane looked him
in the eyes.  "
There's
more of them out
there." 

Before Leech
could ask him what he meant, Dane was out the door and shouting, "Don't
open the gate." 

He was already
too late. 

***

In response to
Ira’s shouts from the wall, Kenzie Quinn and Vick Crane opened the gate and
stepped aside to let Franklin enter.  Franklin staggered through the
gateway.  Kenzie’s first impulse was to reach out and steady him, but
something, some sixth sense, held him back. 

"Boy, are
you a sight for sore eyes," Crane said. 

"He looks
pretty sore himself," Kenzie said. 

Franklin said
nothing.  He stood there, leaning slightly forward with his head down,
staring at his boots.  His right hand grasped his naked knife but his arm
hung limply at his side. 

"Frankie,
are you alright?" Kenzie said, holding out a tentative hand. 

There was no
answer. 

Rawl, standing a
few rows back, thought the silence as eerie as a graveyard at midnight. 
But it was eerier even than that, he thought.  It was more like the
silence of a deserted town which was bustling with life the day before. 

Fletcher Dibsy
unchained Blackthorn.  The dog bolted towards his master.  Ten feet
from Franklin, however, the dog skidded to a halt and sank into a crouch, his
hackles raised.  He let out a low growl followed by a whimper.  Then
he tucked his tail and slunk off in the other direction.

"Franklin?"
said Kenzie, taking a step closer. 

Finally,
Franklin Moore lifted his head and spoke.  But the voice was not his
own.  "Thank you, Kenzie, for letting me in." 

"Frankie, what the he-."
  Kenzie never
finished, for, at that moment, Franklin's knife arm arced up and cut a red
trench through his throat. 

Bailus, who was
standing behind Kenzie when Franklin came through the gate, had turned at the
sound of Dane's shouts to keep the gate shut.  He looked back just in time
to see Kenzie sinking slowly down and Franklin lunging at him with drawn
blade. 

Bailus was a big
man and well past his prime but he was still light on his feet.  He
sidestepped Franklin's first thrust and this gave him time to draw his
knife.  He parried the second, knocking Franklin slightly off balance, and
at the same moment landed a left hook on his enemy's jaw that drove Franklin,
or the thing that had been Franklin, to the ground. 

Bailus kicked
the sword from the thing's hand and dropped his knee against its throat,
pinning it to the ground.  Dane came running up beside him.  He took
in the situation in a flash.  "Don't let him up, whatever you
do.  Do whatever you have to to keep him down." 

"I'll kill
him if I have to," Bailus growled. 

"That won't
do any good," Dane said, "Just hold him there.  Where is
Elias?"  Dane spun around to look for him and almost crashed into the
priest.  "Elias," Dane began, but he saw in the man's face he
already understood. 

"We better
get Mara out here as well," the priest said. 

Then, before
Dane had time to ask him where he was going, Elias turned and ran.  That
was when Dane remembered Leech. 

***

Leech had
stepped to the open door of the infirmary when Dane went running out into the
night.  Leaning against the jamb, he had watched the events at the gate.
But he could make nothing of them; there were too many people standing between
him and the action and it was nothing to him but a huddle of bodies and a
confusion of shouts. 

He frowned and
fidgeted a little.  Obviously, something was wrong, and Dane had certainly
acted strangely.  He saw someone break from the group by the gate and make
for the opposite wall at a run.  He realized it was Elias, the
priest. 

Leech's
attention was so held by the events outside he never saw nor heard what was
happening behind him. 

***

Dane pushed his
way through the press of onlookers that stood between him and Leech and the
infirmary and the cold thing he had left lying there on the bed.  It
seemed the more he pushed, the more people crowded him, trying to get a glimpse
of Bailus straddling the man on the ground.  Finally, he broke through the
huddle of bodies and sprinted for the infirmary. 

From where he'd
broken out of the crowd, he approached the infirmary door nearly straight
on.  So he could see what was happening - and what was about to
happen.  His legs felt so weak he marveled he could move at all - still,
it felt like he was moving at a crawl.  He could see Leech silhouetted in
the doorway.   And behind him -
oh god, behind him
, the thing
was rising off the bed. 

With a lurch it
swung its legs off the bed and planted its feet on the floor.  It raised a
knife in its hand. 

Dane made a
split-second decision that made all the difference in the world.  Telling
Leech to look out would only mean he'd get the blade in his chest instead of
his back.  "Leech, duck," he yelled without slowing his
pace. 

Leech, with a
blank look of surprise on his face, made as to step out of the doorway, then,
just before Dane bowled into him, he obeyed and fell to a crouch.  Dane
leapt over him.  As he hung in the air, Dane realized that all his hopes
rested on the belief this thing was slow and clumsy, that it would not be able
to recalculate its strike before he landed his. 

He was mostly
right.  His weight hit the thing in its chest, slamming it backwards so
that its back hit the floor and the back of its neck struck the frame of the
bed.  As they came down together, Dane lashed out with his left arm,
hoping to deflect the arm that held the knife.  He felt a searing pain
just below his shoulder. 

The blow he
struck would have stunned (if not broken the neck of) an ordinary man; but Dane
did not wait to see what effect it had had on this corpse-thing.  With his
left hand he grasped the wrist of the knife hand. 

With a single
jerk the dead-thing tore its arm from his grasp and posed for a downward
jab.  Dane grabbed its wrist with both hands and slammed the knife hand
against the floor again and again.  He doubted he was causing the creature
any pain, he doubted it could feel pain, but he accomplished what he wanted -
the knife struck the floor and bounced from its grip.  Dane made a
desperate movement with his left foot, kick-sliding the knife into the corner
of the room. 

Leech had leapt
up and lunged for the thing, but the space was too tight to allow him to come
to Dane’s aid.  “What do you want me to do?” he shouted as Dane knocked
the knife away.

Dane turned his
head slightly towards Leech.  “Kenzie’s hurt. 
In
the courtyard.”

Leech
disappeared out the doorway.

The thing
grabbed Dane’s hair with its other hand and jerked him backwards, so that he
fell back on top of it.  He jammed his elbow into its face and rolled over
so that he planted one knee in the thing's gut and the other against its shoulder. 
He pinned the wrists to the floor with his hands.  It jerked its head
forward, snarling and snapping at him.  Its bite narrowly missed the knee
which held its shoulder.  Dane felt his stomach twist and felt bile climb
his throat.  He swallowed it back down and held his position. 

He slid his knee
down to the thing’s neck and pressed it in.  He was out of reach of its
teeth now.  The thing laid its head down with a thump and lay still - but
the stillness was almost worse than the struggling.  Its wrists were naked
where Dane held them.  He shuddered at the feel of the skin.  He was
so sick with horror he doubted he could hold it much longer if it started to
fight again. 

Suddenly, Mirela
was beside him, kneeling close.  He glanced up at her, but she never even
acknowledged him; she was intent on the thing on the floor.  She forced
her fingers between the
opening
of the shirt at the
neck and placed her hand against the pallid chest.  "I dissolve
whatever claim
They
have on you in the grace of
Other," she said.  "Be at rest."

The thing went
wild.  Its boots thumped against the floor.  It planted its feet on
the floor and arched its back, trying to buck Dane off.  He fell to the
side,
then
rolled back over it, laying on it sideways,
still holding its wrists.  Mirela's hand never left its chest. 

"Depart,"
she said.  "And leave his body in peace." 

The thing shook
once more, screamed fit to burst Dane's eardrums, and lay still.  Dane's
rapid breathing was the only sound in the room.  Mirela sat back on her
haunches. 

Elias was beside
them in the next moment, kneeling on the opposite side of the corpse from
Mirela.  He was rubbing something between the thumb and fingers of his
left hand.  He glanced up at Mirela and she nodded.  He held the
object out in his hand for a second; it was a small, smooth stone.  Then
he placed it in the chest pocket of Markis's shirt. 

Elias and Mirela
rose.  Dane stayed where he was.  "We've already done the same
for the one Bailus had at the gate," Mirela said. 

"His name was
Markis," Dane said without looking up. 

"But this
wasn't Markis," Mirela said, nodding to the thing on the floor. 

"I think
it's safe to let go now," Elias said. 

"Are you
sure?" Dane asked.  "He lay still for longer than this before he
jumped up and tried to kill Leech." 

"Take any
precautions you want," Elias said. 

"You're
bleeding," Leech said, stepping beside Elias.

 "It's
nothing," Dane said.  "Kenzie's dead?" 

Leech nodded.
 "They've laid him outside. 
Franklin,
too."
 

They laid the
three bodies on three beds against the wall of the infirmary. 

"Would you
be offended if I bound them?" Dane asked Elias. 

"Not at
all," Elias said.  "I've never had to try to get a dead man to
stop moving before, so I don't know how successful I was."  He gave a
high little laugh that was all nerves and turned his face away.  "I'm
sorry," he said. 

"Don't
worry about it," Dane said. 
Hadn't he heard that laugh often
enough on the battlefield?
"You did more than anyone could have asked
of you."   

Dane glanced
around for Mirela but did not see her.  He bound the ankles of Markis and
Franklin first.  He debated tying their hands behind their backs but
decided instead to tie them at the wrists with their arms laid over their
bodies.  This seemed a more natural pose for one about to be buried. 
He covered them with sheets. 

He looked at
Kenzie.  Someone had bandaged the wound at his neck but this was merely
cosmetic.  There had never been any chance of saving him.  Dane
debated in his mind as to whether he should bind Kenzie's hands and feet or
not.  He turned to Elias.  "Do you think they can do the same
thing to him?" 

Elias shook his
head.  "Whoever did this had more power in the dark arts than I've
ever seen.  Maybe more than I've ever even heard of.  But I'm sure
they had to touch the bodies to lay their spells on them." 

"So that's
what it was?" Dane said.  "Some spell that gave them control
over their bodies so they could drive them around like -." 

"Puppets,"
said a voice behind them. 

They turned to
see Rawl standing in the doorway. 

"I knew as
soon as I saw Markis stumbling towards the gate that his actions reminded me of
something.  I just couldn't place it.  I know it now, though - it was
the puppet show at your father's birthday celebration all those years
ago.  I was only a kid then.  I talked about that show for weeks
afterward." 

Dane felt sick
as he pulled the sheet over Kenzie's body. 

"And,
sir," Rawl said, "Eddie's still out there." 

"Who knows
what they'll try to do with his body," Leech said. 

"Whatever
it is," Dane said, "We'll be ready for it." 

He had no idea
how wrong he was. 

"Let me look at your
arm," Leech said to Dane. 

Dane glanced at
the still, sheet-draped forms of his men.  "Can we do it somewhere
else?" 

"My
room," Leech said. 

Dane was the
last to leave the infirmary.  He stole one last look at the cloth-shrouded
bodies as he closed the door.  He shivered as he crossed to Leech's
room. 

It did not take
Leech long to clean and dress the wound, not as long as Dane would have
liked.  He knew the night must only be half over but he could not let
himself sleep.  Rawl was right.  Eddie, or more correctly, Eddie's
body, was still out there and it seemed likely whoever was doing this would try
to use it against them before daybreak. 

Dane passed the
time circling the wall-walk, encouraging the sentries, relighting or replacing
torches that burned low.  He spent every lonely minute trying to guess how
they would use Eddie against them, but in all his horrible thoughts and
conjectures he never even came close.  

He thought about
Mirela. 
Why did she risk herself to help them?  Why did she help
them at all?  And why had she disappeared so quickly after exorcising
whatever had held Markis?
  The woman was a mystery to him - one that
made him both uncomfortable and excited.  He leaned against the
parapet.  For all his wondering and worrying, sleep was taking hold of
him. 

He did not know
if he had dozed off or simply closed his eyes when he was roused suddenly by raised
voices.  He spun around; the voices were coming from Joseph's position on
the opposite side of the wall.  He was shouting a warning and at the same
time shouting for help.  His shouts for help were launched back over his
shoulder into the compound.  The shouts of warning were directed at
something on the other side of the wall. 

Dane did not
even take the time to look for the nearest ladder.  He leapt from the
wall-walk, falling through the darkness to land ten feet below on his
feet.  He was instantly running.  Joseph's cries were louder now,
more frantic. 

***

Joseph had been
patrolling the wall-walk above the gate when he saw a dark shape materialize
from the fog and break from the trees.  He spun towards it, brining up his
crossbow as he did.  He paused with his finger on the trigger.  Even
in the dark and fog, he recognized the figure. 

"Halt,"
he cried. 

The figure did
not stop; it came right to the foot of the wall and pounded on the gate. 

"Step away
from the gate," Joseph called down.  

"Open the
gate," Edric shouted from below.  "Open the gate.  They're
right behind me." 

Joseph glanced
at the silent, mist-shrouded trees but saw no one.  He looked back to
Edric.  He had to lean uncomfortably over the battlement to see him at
all.  "Step away from the wall." 

Edric's fists
continued hammering on the gate.  Joseph wondered if the thing that drove
Edric’s body was capable of beating it down.  "Help," he yelled
over his shoulder.  "Dane, Elias."  He had no idea if
either man was still awake or within hearing. 

"Joseph, is
that you?" Edric called up.  "Joseph, please,
open
the gate right now."  His voice was miserable. 

"I
can't," Joseph said.  "Wait till Dane and Elias get here, they
can help you." 

Something about
Edric changed.  "What the hell do you mean
they
can help
me? 
You're
the one standing there!  Open the gate.  I
just need you to let me in." 

"That's all
Frankie and Markis wanted, too," Joseph said, more to himself than to
Edric. 

"What? 
What are you talking about?" 

"They can
help you." 

Edric stepped
back from the wall.  Joseph breathed a sigh of relief.  Then Edric
looked up at him.  Joseph’s breath caught in his throat.  Edric’s
face was a mask of madness. 

"Joseph,
you little pissant, open this gate or I swear I'll kill you as soon as I get
in." 

"Peace,"
Joseph said.  "Be at rest." 
Was that right?  What
was it Mara had said to Frankie's body?
 

"You
jackass," Edric said.  "You think this is funny?  I'll tear
your throat out with my bare hands." 

Then Edric did
something terrible.  He began to climb the wall. 

The wall was
made of tree trunks shaved smooth and anchored in the ground and held together
by ropes.  Edric was using the ropes as footholds and wedging his hands
between gaps in the trunks.  He only made it a few feet before he
slipped.  He immediately started climbing again. 

Joseph swore and
brought his bow to his shoulder.  Edric's climbing was clumsy, but in
Joseph's state of mind it seemed a feat of supernatural determination. 

"Step down
and away from the wall."  

Edric was
halfway up the fifteen foot palisade. 

"Get down
or I swear I'll shoot." 

Edric ignored
him. 

In the back of
his mind, Joseph could hear the footfalls of the other sentries as they ran to
his aid.  He knew they wouldn't reach him in time.  He aimed at
Edric's arm, hoping to disable him.  As he pulled the trigger, Edric
slipped.  He kept his handhold on the wall but he fell flat against it so
that Joseph's bolt passed by him and buried itself in the dirt at the foot of
the wall. 

Joseph swore and
dropped down onto the wall-walk to reload.  He put the butt of the bow
between his feet and pushed the string into place.  As he swung the bow
around, he placed a bolt in the slot with shaking fingers.  He almost
screamed when he looked back over the wall.  Edric was so close he could
have reached down and touched his helmeted head. 

Edric looked up,
teeth bared, eyes wild.  "Kill you," he gasped. 

Joseph took
aim.  He closed his eyes as he pulled the trigger.  The bolt went in
through Edric's helmet with a dull
thunk
.  His body dropped from
the wall like a stone and landed in a twisted heap at the foot of the
palisade. 

In that instant
the other sentries arrived at Joseph’s side.  Dane swung himself up onto
the wall from below without bothering to use the ladder.  Joseph sunk to
his knees and then lower still, pulling his knees up against his chest. 

Dane didn't
pause to ask him what had happened.  He stepped to the wall and looked
over.  He turned back to Joseph. 
"Edric?"
 

Joseph
nodded. 

Dane patted him
on the shoulder. 

"Should we
open the gate and go out there, sir?" Ira Scott asked. 

"No,"
Dane said.  "If he's like the others, Joseph's bolt won't have done
anything.  He'll just be faking.  We can't risk opening the gate." 

"But
what'll we do?" 

"Get me a
rope," Dane said. 

When they had
brought him a rope he tied it to two of the poles of the palisade and threw the
other end over the wall.  He turned to the men beside him.  "If
he gets up, you cut the rope.  Don't hesitate." 

"But,
sir," Ira said. 

"Don't
hesitate," Dane said, mounting the battlement and taking hold of the
rope. 

"But, sir, what about you?"
 

"I'll take
my chances," Dane said.  Then he dropped down the outside of the
wall. 

As he slid down
the rope, he heard more men arriving at the battlement above him.  He
reached the bottom and backed away.  He stood still for a moment, watching
Edric's body.  The body lay face down with its legs curled under it. 
Dane thought it could spring up suddenly from that position any time it
wanted. 

The thing did
not stir.  Dane had almost hoped it would.  The waiting was the
worst.  When he could stand it no longer he stepped up, took hold of
Edric's shoulder, and rolled him over.   He started back. 

"Elias is
on his way out, sir," Ira shouted from above.  "He has his
stones." 

Dane
straightened up but did not look up at the wall; he stayed staring at the thing
that had been Edric.  "There's no need for Elias to do anything but
bury him," he got out. 

"What do you
mean, sir?" 

Dane sank to a
sitting position because the adrenaline was receding now, being replaced by a
rising sense of horror. 

"His body's
still warm." 

***

It was Bailus
who ordered the gate open. 

Dane sat in the
dirt with his hands on his head staring at nothing as Bailus and four men with
a stretcher filed out.  The bearers laid the litter on the ground beside
Edric's body and lifted him onto it.  They stepped past Dane and reentered
the compound. 

Bailus stepped
up beside Dane.  He was silent for a moment, looking at the stars. 
"You planning to stay out here all night?" he said, without looking
at Dane. 

"What
difference does it make?" Dane said. 

Bailus looked
down at him, seeing only his hands and the back of his head.  "It
would make a difference to me."  He followed the stretcher bearers
back through the gate. 

Dane waited
until Bailus was inside.  The gate remained open.  Slowly, he got to
his feet and walked back into the settlement. 

Joseph had not
moved from his position on the wall.  Aaron, Edric's cousin, was standing
nearest the gate as the stretcher was carried through. 

"No,"
he said, shaking his head.  "No.  This can't be." 

Fish, the cook,
moved to put their hand on Aaron’s shoulder but he brushed him away. 
"He murdered him," he shouted, pointing up at Joseph.  "You
murdered him." 

Fish and
Fletcher Dibsy stepped between Aaron and the steps to the wall, putting out
hands to steady and stop him.  But instead of charging up the steps for
Joseph, Aaron turned and ran the other way. 

"Let him
go," Bailus said. 

And so no one
followed him to see where he went and that nearly proved to be the third fatal
mistake of the night.

Dane placed a
hand on the wall and leaned against it with his head down while his men shut
the gate.  Elias came up beside him.  "Do you still want to hike
to the temple tomorrow?" 

"What
choice do we have?" Dane said.  "It may be our only chance to
break this power." 

Elias remained
beside him.  "Do not blame
yourself
for
this," he said.  "It was not your fault.  It was not
Joseph's fault.  We were set up for this." 

Dane turned
towards him.  "You think they planned this?  You think they're
that smart?" 

Elias looked at
him squarely.  "They’ve been playing with us since before we got
here.  They’re every bit as smart as we are, and a whole lot
meaner." 

An hour later,
Dane was in his room, staring into the fire.  He had tried to sleep. 
As soon as he had moved away from the gate he had stumbled with weariness and
Bailus had all but ordered him to get some sleep.  But sleep would not
come.  He thought if he did not think about it perhaps it would sneak up
on him.  At any rate, sitting here by the fire and thinking about nothing
was better than tossing and turning and hoping for a deep dreamless
sleep. 

A knock on his
door roused him.  He dreaded to open it. 
What would it be this
time?
  He was surprised to find Joseph standing there, looking pale
but very serious. 

"Sir, I'm
here to turn myself in," he said before Dane could speak. 

"You
haven't done anything wrong," Dane said with difficulty.  It was not
that he blamed Joseph, he was just so weary of life it was hard to say
anything. 

"Sir, I
want you to lock me up until you can convene the military court to try my
case." 

"Forget
it." 

“I'll accept any
punishment you deem necessary. 
Flogging."
 
He hesitated. 
"Even death."
 

"Go back
and sleep, Joseph.  And get some for me while you're at it.” 

"There's a
holding cell built into the wall.  I want you to place me
there." 

"I won't do
that to you." 

"Do that to
me?  I'm asking you to do it
for
me.  I'd rather be there than
back on the wall, a million times over.  He was asking me to help
him.  That's all he wanted.  He was terrified - I know that's all
that was wrong with him now.  He was begging me to help him.  And I,
oh god, I, god…"  Joseph started to cry. 
Not
weeping, just a soft, horrible kind of crying with his hand rubbing circles
over his eyes.
  Dane did not feel ashamed to stand there watching
this.  But it made him angry. 
Furious.
 
But not at Joseph.
 

"Please,
sir, just lock me up." 

So this was
Joseph's idea of penance, his way of coping.
  Dane would have given in
to him, but there was no way in hell he was going to give in to
Them
. 

"Joseph,"
he said, "I can't do that for you.  I can't spare you.  This is
what they want to happen, but we're not going to play by their rules.  Not
anymore.  If you feel like you need to atone for something, than this is
what I'd have you do.  First, go get some sleep.  In the morning,
help me find their temple again.  And tomorrow night I need you back up on
that wall."  He was trying to give Joseph something manly and
difficult to do, to give him a chance to conquer his fear instead of give in to
it.  But if he'd known what would come of it he might have done things
much differently. 

Joseph nodded,
his hand still rubbing his eyes.  "I'm sorry, sir."

 "There
is nothing to apologize for.  If the other sentries had been as vigilant
as you, Kenzie might still be alive.  But we can't blame ourselves for that
and we can't blame ourselves for Edric.  You only did what any of us would
have done." 

Joseph nodded
and turned away, tears still falling down his smooth face.  Dane watched
him start back across the courtyard towards the barracks before he shut the
door.  What he did not see was the dark figure coming out of the storage
cellar. 
The dark figure coming for Joseph.