Warden (16 page)

Chapter 30

Errol was stunned for a moment.

“Hold on,” he said, almost angrily. “That thing has a name? Like somebody’s pet?”

“More like a nickname,” Bander said. “Legend says that Adversa came here long ago from a place far across the sea, pursuing a man.”

“You mean like a paramour?” Jaden asked.

“No,” Bander responded. “More like prey. She would allegedly pull her own hair out in anger and frustration at how he kept eluding her.”

“Did she ever catch him?” Errol asked.

“Eventually,” Bander said, “but it purportedly took years.”

“Years?” Errol repeated.

“Oh, yes,” said Master Algim. “And although they say she killed him, he supposedly gave her a nice parting gift.”

Errol thought for a moment, and then it came to him. “The scar.”

Master Algim nodded. “Legend says that the fellow had been given a blessed weapon by a holy man – a magic axe to fight Adversa with. It wasn’t enough to defeat her, but it did leave its mark. That’s how I know it was her you fought.”

“Plus, the legends say she can nullify certain Warden-magic,” Bander said. “That’s another indicator that it was Adversa that you encountered, and might explain why your spark didn’t harm her.”

Errol contemplated this for a moment before speaking. “You mentioned that it’s also a shapeshifter,” he said. “What can it become?”

Although the question had been directed at Bander, it was Master Algim who answered. “Lots of things, if the stories are to be believed. Cats, dogs, and more, although becoming a hog or pig is fairly common.”

“Well, that’s a dead end,” Errol muttered, thinking aloud. “No way we could distinguish the aswang from all the other pigs running around Wellkeep.”

“Huh?” Bander asked, surprised.

“Sorry,” Errol replied. “I was just thinking how this thing could probably just hide in plain sight with all the other pigs at Wellkeep.”

A look passed between Jaden and Bander. “We don’t have any pigs at Wellkeep,” the former said.

“Of course you do,” Errol retorted. “I see one every morning in that garden outside the barracks window. It–”

Errol’s eyes went wide as the truth hit him, Bander, and Jaden at the same time. The latter two took off running, heading down a nearby set of stairs. (Prap, who had been completely silent during the conversation about the aswang, was right on their heels.) It had been Errol’s intent to follow them, but upon jumping out of bed, he suddenly felt woozy.

Master Algim moved swiftly to help him. Showing surprising strength despite his claims of age and frailty, the scribe slid an arm around Errol and helped prop him up for the few seconds it took for Errol to regain his equilibrium.

Accompanied by Master Algim, he then headed for the stairs, determined to follow his fellow Wardens.

Chapter 31

Despite being slightly hobbled by his injuries, Errol – with Master Algim in tow – arrived at the garden only a few minutes after the other three Wardens. However, by that time his friends had done a thorough inspection and found a number of telltale tracks.

“Here, look at this,” Jaden was saying, pointing at the ground. “The pig was here, then it wandered off. As it did, the tracks began to change.”

Errol saw what he meant. The tracks seemed to spread out, becoming wider, deeper. They also began to exhibit predator traits, such as claws. Finally, the animal making the prints had gone from four legs to being bipedal.

That said, the tracks just seemed to end, like the creature had just vanished, and Master Algim went so far as to say as much.

“No, not vanished,” Errol said. “Took off.” He looked up, prompting those with him to do the same. Thankfully, they saw nothing in the sky above them.

“Take a good look at these tracks,” Bander said, turning his attention back to the ground. “The very last ones before they vanish. See anything familiar?”

It was Jaden who answered, almost immediately. “The sewers. They’re the same as that other set of tracks we saw in the sewers.”

“The sewers?” Master Algim asked, confused.

Errol quickly explained about the second set of tracks they’d found while tracking the selkie, as well as the selkie’s claims of innocence.

“In retrospect,” Errol said, “I think we can say with confidence that it was actually the aswang that killed Till.”

“So the question now is, why is Adversa targeting us?” Bander said.

“Us?” croaked Prap, speaking for the first time in ages. Errol, finally taking a good look at the man, noticed that he looked pale and haggard, as if he hadn’t gotten any sleep.

“Yes,
us
,” Bander went on. “Haven’t you noticed that two people from our traveling party are dead?”

“But why would you say she’s targeting us?” Prap asked, almost nervously.

“Well, for one thing, she went all the way through the sewers to get to Till,” Bander replied, “when she could have snatched anybody off the street if this was just random on her part.”

“Same thing with Pierce last night,” Jaden added. “She could have found a dozen drunks lying passed out in the street, but instead she came across us. I don’t think that’s coincidence.”

“Obviously, then,” Master Algim interjected, “your party did something along the way that offended her. Is there anything you can think of, any encounter that might have set her off?”

There was silence for a few moments as the four Wardens gave serious thought to the question.

“Nothing comes to mind,” Errol said. “The only thing we did that might even come close was visiting the Giant’s Grove.”

“And the only one who touched anything there was Till, who seemingly got punished enough even before Adversa got to him,” Bander said.

“Well, maybe it was something innocuous or that you didn’t even notice at the time,” the scribe said. “But I’d wager that you did something, and you’d better figure it out quick. You can hardly find a worse foe than Adversa. As you know doubt realize, she’s literally trouble – and then some.”

His words sent a sudden tingling up Errol’s spine. “What did you say?” he asked, turning so suddenly towards the old man that he startled the scribe.

“I said that Adversa is literally trouble,” Master Algim repeated. “That’s what her name means in one of the Olde Tongues – ‘adversity’ or ‘trouble’.”

Before the scribe even finished speaking, Errol’s mind was racing. At the same time, he felt as though someone had punched him in the gut.

Chapter 32

He must have swooned, because the next thing Errol knew, Bander and Jaden were laying him onto his bed in the guest barracks. Master Algim stood nearby, instructing the other two Wardens to handle Errol carefully.

“I’m okay,” he tried to say, but wasn’t sure that the words came out right. He started to sit up.

“Easy,” Jaden said, holding his hand out towards Errol’s chest to dissuade him from trying to rise. Errol pushed the hand away.

“Trouble is following us,” Errol said, remembering what Berry had said to him before he left. The homunculus had been giving him a clue as to what to expect. “Adversa.”

“Yes,” Bander agreed. “We know. It was probably her that was following us that last day on the road. We still don’t have a clue why.”

“So why didn’t she attack us then?” Errol asked. “Before we even got to Apolos.”

“There’s one potential explanation,” Master Algim said. “Although they have exceptionally keen senses, an aswang is significantly less powerful during the day. Maybe she didn’t feel she could take on four Wardens.”

“Or maybe she just enjoys the thrill of the hunt, terrifying her prey with the thought of what’s coming,” Jaden said. “I mean, she pursued a guy all the way across the ocean. I thought people only did stuff like that for love.”

“No, there’s another reason that people do things like that – monsters, too,” Errol said, shaking his head. “Revenge.”

“Revenge?” Master Algim repeated, eyebrows rising in surprise.

“Yes,” Errol said with certainty. “It’s not just our group she’s targeting, but specific people who were with us. Think about it – Jaden and I were both practically helpless last night, but she stalked right by us to get to Pierce.”

“So there’s more than just bloodlust driving her,” Bander noted. “This is personal.”

“But we still don’t know why,” Master Algim said.

“Sure we do,” Errol said in a contrary tone. “Or rather, one of us does. Prap.”

It was at that moment, looking around, that they noticed that the bulky Warden wasn’t with them.

Chapter 33

Jaden and Bander wouldn’t let Errol go with them to find Prap. He obviously hadn’t fully recovered from his run-in with the aswang, and the stress of their situation wasn’t helping.

“You need to rest,” said Master Algim, who had also stayed behind. “You’re not at full strength yet. The dagger could only do so much.”

Errol frowned. “Dagger? What do you mean?”

“Remember when I told you that using your Wendigo dagger to kill had made you its master?” the scribe asked, going on after Errol numbly nodded. “Well, you and it appear to be mystically connected in a way I don’t understand, but I was able to use it to help speed your healing and rouse you. Do you think it was just coincidence that we were all standing around the bed when you came to earlier?”

With that, Master Algim insisted that Errol get some rest, practically forcing him to stretch out on the bed. Although he felt way too keyed up mentally to simply lie still, his body apparently felt differently; within minutes, Errol was asleep.

Despite having images of the aswang in his head, his slumber was less fitful than one might have imagined (although he did mumble constantly). In truth, most of what Errol experienced while sleeping had the inescapable finality of memory rather than the surreal quality of dreams. Among other things, he relived his conversation with Berry, certain aspects of his journey to Apolos, and his encounter with Adversa. However, the incidents were disjointed, juggled by his subconscious while he slept and shown out of order with respect to how they truly occurred. Along with this new sequence of events came a different perspective, and by the time Errol opened his eyes, he knew what had happened and why Adversa was murdering members of their traveling party.

*****

Errol awoke to the sound of commotion – raised voices and bodies bustling about. He looked up to find a half-dozen Wardens – including Jaden and Bander – wrestling Prap into the barracks. The rotund Warden was screaming to be released.

“Let me go!” he cried. “You have to let me go!”

They struggled to pull him over to one of the bunks, whereupon – on Bander’s order – they released him. Prap stood there for a second, looking indignant, but didn’t try to push past the other Wardens, who formed a semi-circle in front of him.

“Sit down,” Bander said, giving Prap a severe look. The bulky Warden complied. Bander told the other Wardens to wait outside, leaving just him and Jaden.

Errol, having gotten out of bed at this point, came closer. Master Algim had apparently been correct in his earlier diagnosis; the additional rest had been good for Errol, and he felt much, much better. So much better, in fact, that he removed the bandages from his head.

“There he is,” Bander said, inclining his head towards Prap when Errol got closer. “We found him trying to sneak out of the city.”

“I wasn’t trying to sneak anywhere,” Prap said defensively. “I just don’t want to get killed.”

“Just tell us what you know,” Bander said. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”

“But I don’t know anything,” Prap insisted. “Just what we talked about earlier. I don’t know any more than anyone else.”

Prap’s audience didn’t appear to be swayed by his rhetoric.

Bander turned towards Errol. “You said Prap knew something. What is it?”

Errol nodded. He had actually been making a wild guess when he’d spoken earlier, based on something Berry had said about Prap:
His type always attracts trouble
.

If Adversa was literally trouble, as Master Algim had said, then the homunculus had been hinting that Prap would attract her. In other words, it was something Prap had done that had garnered her attention.

At least that was Errol’s deduction. Moreover, from what he remembered of his recent dreams, he thought he knew exactly what it was Prap had done. But he needed an additional bit of information.

“Prap,” Errol said, “I need to ask you something, and it’s important that you remember correctly. On our last night in the Badlands, when I fell asleep, you and Pierce were eating that pig you’d caught.”

Prap nodded vigorously, apparently having no problem recalling the incident.

Errol went on. “Did Till ever eat any of that pig?”

Prap looked at the ceiling and scratched his head, brow furrowed in thought. “No,” he finally said after a few seconds, shaking his head.

“Are you sure?” Errol asked, almost desperately. “Are you absolutely positive?”

“Yes.” Prap nodded. “With those toadstools growing on him, I probably wouldn’t have let him. So as far as I know, he didn’t have any of it.”

Errol frowned. His entire theory was getting blown apart. It didn’t necessarily mean that he was wrong, but it was a blow to the argument he had been planning to make.

“Yes, he did,” Jaden said unexpectedly. All heads swiveled in his direction.

“What?” Prap asked, looking sick.

“He did eat some of it,” Jaden confirmed again. “After everyone had fallen asleep, he got up and went over to where the meat was roasting. His movement woke me up, but I don’t think he realized that I saw him. He tore off a chunk of meat and went back to his area of camp and ate it.”

This was exactly what Errol had hoped to hear. He tried to keep the excitement out of his voice as he spoke.

“Do you remember if Till got a specific piece of meat?” Errol asked.

“Yeah,” Jaden said with a nod. “It was a hunk of leg. He was munching on it as he went back to his sleeping bag.”

The elation must have shown on Errol’s face, because his excitement was almost tangible.

“What is it, Errol?” Bander asked. “What are you thinking?”

“I believe I know why all this is happening,” Errol said. He turned to Prap. “Adversa is after us because you killed her child.”