Wolf In Shadow (30 page)

 ’Well, you keep on out-thinking them, son, and I’ll be for ever in your debt.’

 ’I'll do my best, big man.’

 Two days out from Castlemine, having found a gap in the mountains that allowed them to move west, Shannow and Batik found themselves in a cool valley edged with spruce and pine.

 They stopped at the shores of a lake that sheltered beneath tall peaks and watered their horses. Shannow had said little since they had buried Archer and Batik had left him to his solitude.

 As the afternoon drew on, Batik saw a rider bearing down on them from the west. He stood and shaded his eyes against the falling sun and as the rider neared, Batik’s eyes widened in shock.

 ’Shannow!’

 ’I see him.’

 ’It’s Archer!’

 ’It can’t be.’

 The rider approached and slid from the saddle. He was a black man, over six feet tall and wearing the same style of grey shirt that Archer had sported.

 ’Good afternoon, gentlemen,’ he said. ‘I take it you are Shannow?’

 ’Yes. This is Batik.’

 ’I am pleased to see you. My name is Lewis, Jonathan Lewis. I have been sent to guide you in.’

 ’In to where?’ asked Batik.

 ’Into the Ark,’ he replied.

 ’You are one of the Guardians?’ asked Batik unnecessarily.

 ’Indeed I am.’

 ’Archer is dead,’ said Shannow, ‘but then you knew that.’

 ’Yes, Mr Shannow. But you made his passing more easy and for that we are grateful. He was a fine man.’

 ’I see you are armed,’ said Batik, pointing to the flapped scabbard at Lewis’ waist.

 ’Yes. Samuel could never see the point. . .’ He did not need to finish his sentence. ‘Shall we go?’

 They followed Lewis for more than two hours, turning into a wide canyon flanked by black basaltic rock.

 Ahead of them lay another ruined city, larger than the first they had found before meeting Archer. But it was not the city which caused the breath to catch in Shannow’s throat. Five hundred feet above the marble ruins lay a golden ship, glowing in the dying sunlight.

 ’Is it truly the Ark?’ whispered Shannow.

 ’No, Mr Shannow,’ said Lewis, ‘though many have taken it to be so, and in the main we do not disenchant them.’

 The trio rode into the ruins, along an overgrown cobbled street to the foot of the mountain. Here Lewis dismounted, beckoning the others to follow. He led his horse to the rock and stopped to turn a small handle set within it. A section of the rock face then moved sideways leaving a rectangular doorway seven feet high and twelve feet wide. Lewis entered, Shannow and Batik leading their horses behind. Two men waited within the tunnel; they took the horses and Lewis led Shannow and Batik to a steel doorway which slid open to reveal a small room, four feet square and seven feet high. With the three men inside, the door whispered shut.

 ’Level Twenty,’ said Lewis and the room shuddered.

 ’What’s happening here?’ asked Batik, alarmed.

 ’Wait for a moment, Batik. All will be well.’

 The door opened once more, this time to a bright hallway, and Shannow stepped out. It was lighter than day here, yet there were no windows. All along the walls were glowing tubes; when Shannow reached up and touched one, it was faintly warm.

 ’You must have many Stones to produce this much magic,’ said Shannow.

 ’We do indeed, Mr Shannow. Follow me.’

 Another door opened before them and the three men entered a round room at the centre of which was a white desk in the shape of a crescent moon. Behind it sat a white-haired man, who stood and smiled at their approach. More than six-feet-six tall, his skin was golden, his eyes slanted and dark. His hair was long, sweeping out from the scalp like a lion’s mane.

 Lewis bowed. ‘My Lord Sarento, the men you wished to meet.’

 Sarento moved around the table and approached Shannow.

 ’Welcome, my friends. For my sins I am the leader here and I am delighted to welcome you. Lewis, fetch chairs for my guests.’

 With Batik and Shannow seated, and Lewis sent to bring refreshment, Sarento leaned back on the table and spoke.

 ’You are a remarkable man, Mr Shannow. I have followed your exploits for a number of years: the taming of Allion, the hunting down of the Brigand Gareth, the attack on the Hellborn and now the liberation of Castlemine. Is there nothing that can stop you, sir?’

 ’I have been fortunate.’

 ’Fortune favours the Rolynd, Mr Shannow. Have you come across the name?’

 ’Archer mentioned it, I believe.’

 ’Yes, dear Samuel … I cannot tell you how much his death depresses me. He more than anyone is responsible for the growth in Guardian wisdom. But I was speaking of the Rolynd. A wondrous race were the Atlanteans; they conquered mysteries which still baffled our elders eight thousand years later. They were the fathers of magic - and they understood the gifts men carried. Some could heal, others could grow plants. Still others could teach. But the Rolynd were special for they were lucky; they carried luck like a talisman - a personal god who would step in whenever needed. And with the Rolynd warriors it was needed often. Warriors like you, Mr Shannow, who could somehow hear a stealthy assassin creeping upon them in the mist of a storm. The Atlanteans believed the gift was linked to courage. Perhaps it is. But whatever the cause, you have the gift, sir.’

 Lewis returned and served a goblet of white wine to each of the men, then laid the pitcher on the table and left the room.

 ’You have great power here,’ said Shannow.

 ’Indeed we do, sir. With knowledge comes power, and we guard the secrets of the old world.’

 ’But you also have the Stones.’

 ’What is the point you are making?’

 ’With all this power, why do you not stop the Hellborn?’

 ’We are not meddlers, Mr Shannow, though we have tried to guide this world for more than three hundred years. Men like Prester John Taybard and the man you knew as Karitas have been sent from here to educate the people of this continent - to lead them towards an understanding of what they are, and from whence they come. I have no army and if I did, I have no God-given right to change the destiny of the Hellborn. On the other hand, since the battle is unequal, I am willing to help you.’

 ’In what way?’

 ’I can give you weapons to take to Daniel Cade.’

 ’How will that help me kill Abaddon?’

 ’It will help you to do more than that; it will help you to beat him.’

 Shannow looked into Sarento’s dark eyes and stayed silent.

 ’What sort of weapons?’ asked Batik.

 Sarento gave an order to one of his men, who opened a hidden door in the far wall to reveal a firing range. At the furthest end of the first Une was a wooden statue, dressed in the armour of the Hellborn. Sarento stepped on to the range and lifted a bulky black weapon almost three feet long, which he handed to Batik. ‘Pull back the bolt on the left, then aim it - but hold it steadily, it may surprise you.’

 Batik sprang the bolt and pulled the trigger. The rolling explosion deafened them momentarily and the statue disappeared, its upper torso smashed beyond recognition. Batik laid the weapon gently to rest.

 ’Five hundred bullets a minute, moving at three thousand miles per hour,’ said Sarento. ‘Hit a man in the upper leg with just one and the hydraulic shock will drag his blood from his heart and kill him. You can destroy an army with ten of these and I’ll give you fifty.’

 ’I'll think about it,’ said Shannow.

 ’What is there to think about?’ argued Batik. ‘We could ride in and take Babylon itself with these.’

 ’Probably, but I’m tired. Is there somewhere I can rest?’ Shannow asked Sarento.

 ’Of course,’ was the reply, whereupon he opened a door which Lewis entered. ‘Show our guests to suitable quarters. I will see you both in the morning.’

 The Guardian took them to another level and into a T-shaped room containing two beds, a table, four chairs and a wide window looking out on a gleaming lake. Shannow moved to the window and tried to open it, but the lock would not shift.

 ’It does not open, Mr Shannow - it is not a window at all, but a light picture - what we call a mood-view.’ He moved to a dial on the wall and turned it. The view mellowed into dusk, evening and finally moonlit night. ‘Set it as it pleases you. I shall have food sent to you.’

 Once the guardian had left Shannow lay back-on the first bed, his head pillowed on his arms.

 ’What’s bothering you, Shannow?’ asked Batik.

 ’Nothing. I am just tired.’

 ’But those weapons . . . Even your God would be hard-pressed to come up with a better miracle.’

 ’You are easily pleased, Batik. Now leave me to think.’

 Batik shrugged and wandered around the room until Lewis returned with food. For Batik he brought a huge rare steak and green vegetables. For Shannow, there was cheese and black bread. When they had consumed the food, Lewis rose to leave.

 ’Is there no water anywhere?’ asked Shannow. ‘I would like to clean the dust from my body.’

 ’How foolish of me,’ said the guardian. ‘Look over here.’ As he spoke, he slid back the wall by the mood-view to reveal a cubicle of glass. Lewis reached inside and pressed a switch at which warm water jetted from a nozzle in the wall. ‘Soap and towels are in here,’ said Lewis, opening a wall cupboard.

 ’Thank you. This place is like a palace.’

 ’It was constructed from plans that existed before the Fall.’

 ’Did the Guardians build this place?’

 ’After a fashion, Mr Shannow. We used the Stones to recreate the magic of our forefathers.’

 ’Where are we now?’

 ’You are inside the shell of the Ark. Once we harnessed the Sipstrassi, we rearranged the interior to house our community. I think that was some three centuries ago; there have been some modifications since.’

 Shannow sipped a glass of clear wine. He was bone-weary, but there was much he needed to know.

 ’I never really had a chance to talk to Archer about what you guard. Would you mind explaining?’

 ’Not at all. Our community exists to gather and hoard the secrets of Pre-Fall, in the hope of one day bringing it back. We have a library here with over thirty thousand books, most of them technical. But there are also four thousand classics in eleven languages.’

 ’How can you bring back what is past?’ asked Batik.

 ’That is a question for Sarento, not a soldier.’

 ’And you believe you can help bring back civilization with guns that could kill five hundred men a minute?’ said Shannow softly.

 ’Man is an inventive animal, Mr Shannow. Any weapon of death will be improved. Would you not sooner have the guns than the Hellborn? Sooner or later their gunsmiths will perfect them.’

 ’How many of you are there?’

 ’Eight hundred, including the women and children. We are a fairly stable community. Tomorrow I will show you around. Perhaps you would agree to meet Amaziga Archer - it will be painful, but I know she wants to hear of her husband’s last hours.’

 ’He spoke of her at the end,’ said Shannow.

 ’Perhaps you would be kind enough to tell her that.’

 ’Of course. Were you a friend of Archer’s?’

 ’Very few people disliked Sam. Yes, we were friends.’

 ’His Stone turned black,’ said Batik. ‘It was very small.’

 ’He always over-used it; he treated it like a magic bauble. I shall miss him,’ said Lewis with genuine regret.

 ’Was he the only guardian with a love of Atlantis?’ asked Shannow.

 ’Very much so - he and Sarento, that is.’

 ’An interesting man. How old is he?’

 ’Just over two hundred and eighty, Mr Shannow. He is very gifted.’

 ’And you, Mr Lewis? How old are you?’

 ’Sixty-seven. Sam Archer was ninety-eight. The Stones are wondrous things.’

 ’Indeed they are. I think I will rest now. Thank you for answering my questions.’

 ’It was a pleasure. Sleep well.’

 ’One last question?’

 ’Ask it.’

 ’Do the Stones create your food for you?’

 ’They used to, Mr Shannow, but we needed the power for other and more important things. We now run a sizable herd of cattle and sheep, and we grow most of our vegetables.’

 ’Thank you again.’

 ’Not at all.’

 Shannow lay awake long after Batik was asleep. The mood-view was set to moonlight and he watched as clouds drifted across the sky, the same clouds time and again in relentless regularity. He closed his eyes and saw once more the sundered statue, picturing a real man lying there with his entrails around him like torn ribbons.

 Had Karitas possessed weapons such as these, the Hellborn would never have destroyed his village and young Curopet would still be alive.

 Shannow rolled over and lay on his stomach, but sleep evaded him despite the softness of the bed. He was uneasy and tense. He swung his legs from the bed and moved to the water cubicle, stepping into the shallow basin and turning on the spray. In a tray to his right was a bar of scented soap and he scrubbed his skin, revelling in the heat of the shower. Towelling himself down, he returned to the mood-view and on impulse switched it to day and watched the sun hurtle into the sky.

 He sat at the table and poured a glass of water. All his life he had been both hunter and hunted, and he trusted his instincts. There had to be a cause for his uneasiness, and he was determined to find it before his next meeting with Sarento.

 Sarento. He did not like the man, but that was no reason to judge him harshly. Shannow liked few men. . . and the Guardian leader had been pleasant enough. Despite his words he had not seemed unduly distressed by Archer’s death, but then the man had merely been a follower, and Shannow knew that the emotions of men whom the world thought great rarely ran deep. Humanity invariably ran a poor second to ambition.

 Shannow relaxed his mind. In hunting one used peripheral vision to spot movement and it was the same with a problem. Staring at it head on often blurred the perspective. He let his thoughts roam . . .

 Karitas leapt from his subconscious - kind, gentle Karitas.

 Hellborn Karitas, the father of guns.