The Spook 9 - Slither's tale (10 page)

Close to the fire, while the girls watched with wide eyes, I skinned and gutted the wolf, then cut it into small pieces and buried them in the hot embers to cook.

All three sisters ate their fill that night, and only Susan complained, whimpering as she struggled to chew the half-burned, half-cooked meat. But she was quickly silenced by Nessa, who understood that I had given them the hope of life.

Just before dawn I fed the fire with wood, and as I did so, Nessa awoke. She came to sit opposite me so that our eyes locked across the flames. Strangely she didn’t seem quite so skinny tonight. Her neck was particularly inviting and my mouth watered so that I was forced to swallow.

‘I don’t like it here,’ she said. ‘I keep getting a sense that something is watching us. I heard a noise too, like a small shower of falling stones. It could be a dangerous boggart. Perhaps this is its lair.’

‘What is a boggart?’ I demanded, filled with curiosity.

‘It’s a malevolent spirit. Some throw rocks or even big boulders. They are dangerous and can kill people.’

‘How would you deal with such an entity?’ I demanded.

‘I wouldn’t even try,’ Nessa said. ‘But far to the south across the sea it is rumoured that there are spooks – men who are capable of dealing with such things.’

From what she described, it was likely that ‘boggart’ was the human term for bychon. But in all my years of learning I had never heard of their spooks. I wondered what kind of magic they used.

‘Well, worry not, little Nessa – a spook is not needed here. In
dark
places there are often invisible things that linger and watch. But you are safe with me.’

‘How much longer before we can travel on?’ she asked. ‘And why are we going north?’

‘Perhaps we’ll be able to leave at dawn tomorrow, or by the afternoon at the latest,’ I answered. ‘But without grain the horses won’t get far. There is oscher in the small sacks, which will give them strength for a little while – before it kills them. You’ll be eating horseflesh before the week is out. It’s easier to chew than wolf, so perhaps your sister will not complain so much. Eventually, in order to survive, we might have to eat one of your two sisters – Susan would be best because she’s bigger, with more meat on her bones.’

Nessa gasped. ‘How can you even think such a horrible thing?’

‘Because it is better for one to die so that the others may live. It is the way of the Kobalos world, so you might as well get used to it, little Nessa.’

‘What about your promise!’ she exclaimed. ‘You agreed to take my sisters to safety.’

‘I did, and I will strive with all the powers at my command to keep to my trade with your poor father.’

Nessa was silent for a moment, but then she stared right into my eyes. ‘If it proves necessary, eat me rather than one of my sisters.’

Once again I found myself surprised by her bravery – but, ‘I will be unable to oblige,’ I told her. ‘You see, only you belong to me, and I would not waste my own chattel. Anyway, let us talk
more
of such things if the need arises. It’ll be a long journey north. And I will now tell you why we are heading in that direction. We are going to Valkarky, where I must plead my case – it is the only hope of life I have. To save your little sisters I killed a High Mage, and an assassin whose brotherhood will seek vengeance and hunt me down until I am dead. But those I slew broke the law regarding my property rights. If I can successfully make my plea before the ruling Triumvirate, they will not be able to touch me.’

‘What is Valkarky – another fortress?’

‘No, Nessa, it is a city. Our city! It is the most beautiful and most dangerous place in this whole wide world,’ I answered. ‘Even a human such as you, with poor, half-blind eyes, cannot fail to appreciate its beauty. But never fear, I will protect you from its many dangers.’

‘It would be better to die here,’ Nessa said bitterly, ‘than enter a city full of others like you.’

‘Die? Die, little Nessa? Who said anything about dying? You gave me back my life, and in return I’ll protect you and your two plump sisters, just as I promised. Only in extremis will we eat one of them, and then only so that the other might live. I have made a promise, but I can only do what is possible. If only you had got the horses with their provisions as I commanded!’

A look of embarrassment flashed across Nessa’s face, but she was silent, evidently deep in thought. ‘But you’ll still take them to safety when your business is done?’

I smiled but refrained from showing my teeth. ‘Of course. Haven’t I promised as much? Now go back to sleep. What else
is
there for your kind to do but sleep when it snows so hard?’

‘My father said that you also sleep in the depths of winter. He said that you hibernate. Why do you do that when you love the cold so much?’

I shrugged. ‘A haizda mage sleeps in shudru, deepest winter, in order to learn. It is a time when he gathers his thoughts within deep dreams and weaves new knowledge out of experience. We dream to see the truth at the heart of life.’

Nessa turned away and looked back to where her sisters were sleeping. Bryony was still tightly wrapped within my coat – only her mousy brown hair was visible.

‘What is Valkarky like?’ Nessa asked, turning back to face me.

‘It is vast,’ I explained. ‘We believe that our city will not stop growing until it covers the whole world. Not a rock, not a tree, not even a blade of grass will be visible then. All other cities will be crushed beneath its expanding walls!’

‘That’s horrible!’ she cried. ‘It’s unnatural. You would make the whole world hideous.’

‘You do not understand, little Nessa, so do not judge until you have seen it with your own eyes.’

‘But it’s a nonsense, anyway. How could a city become so large? There could not be enough builders to create such a monstrosity.’

‘Valkarky’s walls are constantly being constructed and repaired by creatures that need no sleep. They spit soft stone from their mouths, and this is used as building material. It resembles wood pulp at first, but hardens soon after contact
with
the air. Hence the name Valkarky – it means the City of the Petrified Tree. It is a wonderful place, full of entities created by magic – beings that can be seen in no other place. Be grateful that you will get to see it. All other humans who enter there are slaves or marked for death. You have some hope of leaving it.’

‘You forget that I also am a slave,’ Nessa replied angrily.

‘Of course you are, little Nessa. But in exchange for your bondage, your two sisters will go free. Doesn’t that make you happy?’

‘I owe obedience to my father and I am willing to sacrifice my life so that my sisters will be safe. But it certainly does not make me happy. I was looking forward to my life, and now it has been taken away. Should I rejoice at that?’

I did not reply. Nessa’s future, or lack of it, was not worth debating. I had not told her just how bad things were. The odds against me were indeed great, and I would probably be taken and killed, either on the journey or immediately upon entering the city. It was unlikely that I would live long enough to make a successful plea to the ruling council. If I died, the three girls would become slaves at best; at worst they would be drained of blood and eaten.

After that Nessa became very quiet; she went off to sleep without even wishing me a good night. Humans such as Nessa often lack manners, so I wasn’t really surprised.

ABOUT AN HOUR
after dawn, the wind dropped and the blizzard became just a light whirling of snowflakes falling lazily out of the grey dome of the sky.

‘I need my coat back, little Nessa,’ I told her. ‘You will have to share what you have with your youngest sister.’

Sooner or later I would have to fight, and I wanted to be wearing the long black coat, my badge of office, so that any enemy would appreciate the strength of what he faced. I noted that it was Nessa who surrendered some of her garments to clothe the child, including her waterproof cape. They were far too big but would provide the necessary protection against the elements. Nessa would now find the conditions
more
difficult. I noted that Susan did not volunteer any of her garments.

As was my custom, before mounting my horse I stood in front of it and breathed quickly into its nostrils three times.

‘What are you doing?’ Nessa asked, her face alive with curiosity. She had obviously wisely decided not to fight against my wishes.

‘I am using what we mages call
boska
. I have changed the composition of the air within my lungs before breathing into its nostrils. I have thus infused the animal with obedience and courage. Now, if I have to fight, my mount will not flinch from the enemy that faces us!’

‘Will you have to fight? Does danger threaten?’ she asked.

‘Yes, little Nessa, it is very likely. So now we must press on and hope for the best.’

‘How much further have we to travel? Each day seems the same. I’m losing track of time – it seems like weeks have passed already.’

‘This is merely our fifth morning. It is better not to think about the rest of the journey. Just take each day as it comes.’

We left the old farmhouse behind. Soon we came to a rocky, barren area where the snow had melted. Steam rose from cracks in the ground, and from time to time the earth trembled and there was a smell of burning on the breeze.

‘What’s this place?’ Nessa asked, riding up alongside me.

‘It is the Fittzanda Fissure, an area of earthquakes and instability. This is the southern boundary of our territories. Soon we will be in the land of my people.’

We continued north across that steaming, shaking terrain, our horses even more nervous than the three purrai. The area was vast, and its shifting rocky nature would make us difficult to track. Those who pursued us from the fortress would expect me to flee south – not north to what might well be my execution – so that was to my advantage.

And soon others would be hunting us too. The dying thoughts of the assassin would have been sent out to his brotherhood. They would know who had slain him. Some would already be out there in the snowy wilderness or even close by, and they would sense my location and begin to converge on our path. The Triumvirate of High Mages might also send further assassins from Valkarky.

Out here they would try to kill me on sight. I needed to reach the city in one piece in order to win the right of plea before the council.

Only one thing bothered me. Did I still have the courage and ruthlessness to defeat my enemies? Or had I already been infected with skaiium, as my softness towards Nessa indicated?

It was not long before an enemy found me – but it was not the Shaiksa assassin I’d expected. The High Mages had sent a very different creature.

The assassin waited directly ahead of us. At first glance it appeared to be an armed Kobalos on horseback, but there was something wrong where the rider and horse joined. It was not simply that there was no saddle. There was no division between them. I was not looking at two creatures; it was one deadly composite.

‘What is that fearsome thing?’ Nessa demanded with a shudder. Susan began to whimper, while Bryony shook with terror but made no sound.

‘Perhaps it is our deaths,’ I told her. ‘Stay back and let me do what I can.’

I was facing a hyb warrior, a crossbreed of Kobalos and horse that had been designed for combat. The creature’s upper body was hairy and muscular, combining exceptional strength with speed and the ability to rip an opponent to pieces. The hands were also specially adapted for fighting. In its right the hyb appeared to be gripping five long, thin blades, but I knew they were talons that could be retracted into the muscular hand or unsheathed at will. In its left was a mace – a huge club covered in sharp spikes like the quills of a porcupine.

The lower body of a hyb was faster than a horse, with spurs of bone projecting from each foreleg, often used to disembowel the mount of its enemy. Additionally, this hyb was armoured: it wore a metal helmet that covered its whole face except for the angry red eyes. Its body, upper and lower, was also protected by the highest quality ribbed armour.

The helmet, with its elongated jaw, betrayed the true shape of the upper head, which was more horse than Kobalos. Both mouths were open now, snorting clouds of steam into the cold air. Then both throats called out a challenge, a deep guttural roar that echoed across the land from horizon to horizon. Without further ado it charged towards me, through a narrow gap between two jets of steam erupting from the volcanic rock.

I heard whinnies of fear from behind as the two purrai
mounts
, sensing the strangeness and malevolence of the hyb, scattered, taking their riders with them. But my horse, fortified as it was by the magic of boska, did not move a muscle.

The hyb whirled the club high above its head, but I saw through that subterfuge. It was intended to distract me, and while I looked up, the long thin talons would strike fast and low like vipers’ tongues.

It was as I anticipated, and I was ready. I charged forward to meet the attack, tail extended, and we passed each other with barely a foot between us. As the hyb leaned towards me, the sharp tips of its talons aimed upwards, seeking to slip beneath my ribs and into my heart, I focused my mind until a small bright magical shield materialized in the air and moved with me.