Mag was dead, after all. Any half-decent weremage should be more than a match for a normal man like me. And Tagata knew that Kaita was far more than half-decent, even before she had the magestones in her blood.
She sighed and kept her gaze on the shadows where Kaita had vanished. Sky watch you, my love. Until life ends.
The moment Kaita left the Shade camp, she took her hellskin form. Her body swelled into the enormous white creature, and every thundering step drove her spikes and blades into the dirt. It left a trail across the land like a great plow pulled by a Dragon.
But soon she realized that hers were the only tracks. She had run in the direction she had seen me flee, but soon she reached hard, rocky ground. She had no footprints to follow. And the hellskin form had poor senses compared to the lion, or even the bear, and so she had no scent to go by.
She paused, looking back over her shoulder. But Tagata had remained with the rest of the Shades.
That is fine, Kaita told herself. I did not even need her help to kill Mag. I will not need her to end Albern.
Her gaze drifted upwards into the sky, where the moons rose ever higher. It was a clear night, perfect for flying. From the air, she would be able to see me more easily.
She hesitated a long moment, looking around to make sure I was not lurking nearby. When she felt she was safe, her eyes glowed black, and her body shrank, resuming her human form. For a heart-stopping moment, she stood there in the night, feeling exposed, before her eyes flashed black again, and she took the raven form. In a few moments, she launched into the air.
Now he will be simple to find, she thought.
But to her surprise, she still had trouble. I had, after all, been trained as a ranger, even if I had never officially become one. And in the long years since we both lived in Tokana, I had kept my skills sharper than Kaita had kept hers. Only here and there could she glimpse a few shallow footprints in the moonslight. Beside the tracks of my boots, there were the clear tracks of a dog. She had seen Oku often enough to recognize the sign of him. But the trail always vanished into rocks again. Kaita was forced to circle and wheel aimlessly until she stumbled upon a fresh set of tracks. Always she had to be aware of her height and avoid swooping too low where I could get a good shot.
He thinks to lure me into a simpleton’s trap, she thought savagely. He must think me an even greater fool than Mag was.
But Kaita was drawing closer to the Mystic camp now. That put a quiver of fear into her heart. Was I planning on retreating to them? She could not follow me there.
But she could. Who cared how many of them there were? In her hellskin form, no blade could—
No.
It took a monumental effort to marshal her thoughts, but she did it. She had promised Rogan. And she believed in the Lord. If he had not wanted Kaita to plunge into the midst of her foes, there was a reason. She had said she would never doubt him again, and she meant it.
And then she caught a flash of brown cloth. There I was, still several spans away from the Mystic camp. And I was not running east towards them, but south, towards a familiar cluster of boulders set against the base of a hill. It was the tunnel entrance. The Shades had come out this way when they attacked the Mystic camp. As Kaita flapped her wings hard, powering towards me, Oku and I descended into the shadows beneath the hill.
Kaita laughed in her mind as I clambered over the boulders and disappeared into the earth. If he thinks a cave will save him, he is a fool, she thought. Best of all, I was still alone, save for my hound. She could hunt me down without breaking her word.
She landed atop the hill and shifted into hellskin form as quickly as she could. With a few lumbering steps, she dropped into the darkness of the tunnel beneath the earth.
Immediately she was faced with a new problem. With the hellskin form’s limited senses, she could neither see me nor follow my scent.
But she was invulnerable. Who cared about seeing? It mattered little if she stumbled into the walls—they could do nothing to her iron-hard skin.
So she stumbled blindly down the tunnel, lumbering into the stone walls every few steps. It was irritating, but hardly debilitating. Things became slightly worse as the tunnel began to swing more sharply left and right so that she sometimes crashed face-first into the stone. It did not exactly hurt, but it was disorienting, and she had to take a moment to get her bearings. She growled each time, and each time the sound grew a little deeper, a little crueler.
Albern must have brought a torch, she thought, wishing she had had the presence of mind to do the same.
Suddenly her foot came down on empty air. She was at the top of the stone wall she had climbed during her escape from the tunnels. For a heartbeat, she teetered, trying to recover. But in the end, she plummeted five paces and slammed into the stone floor. This time it did hurt, her weight sending a crushing lance of pain through her shoulder.
A frustrated, growling roar burst out of her. And to her surprise, there were words in the sound.
“Dark take you, Albern!” she thundered. “Stand and face me!”
For a moment she lay there, blinking. So, the hellskin form could speak. It was the only beast in her canon that could, other than the troll.
Slowly she clambered to her feet. “Where are you, little ranger?” she growled. “But then, I suppose you never really became a ranger. Not like Romil and me. Not like Ditra.” She bared her fangs in the inky black and began to stalk forwards again. “Ah, Ditra. You know, do you not, that she is doomed? Now nothing can stop me from ending her. She will die screaming on my claws, and then I will have your niece as well.”
Still the tunnel ahead remained silent. Kaita growled, and the sound of it shook the stone beneath her clawed feet.
“Come, Albern!” she roared. “Have we both not waited enough? Let the long road come to an end. Mag did. She was happy to see it done, finally.”
No reply came floating out of the shadows.
Kaita considered her options. She could take the mountain lion form. It would let her see in the darkness far better than I could.
Of course, the lion was more vulnerable. But vulnerable to what? To me? Surely not. The hellskin form was for Mag. The lion would be more than enough to deal with me.
Again she felt a moment’s trepidation as her form shifted to human, and she braced herself for an arrow to come flying from the dark. But nothing came. And as the lion form took her, the tunnel became visible—still dim, but at least she would not go running into walls. And she could smell. My scent was there, and so was Oku’s. And there were lingering whiffs of others—all the Shades who had come this way during their escape, and then Kun’s small army that had followed them. Kaita could even faintly detect Tagata’s scent, and her stomach fluttered.
She forced herself to focus as she proceeded down the tunnel, moving at a quick trot now. This felt much more comfortable. As powerful as the hellskin form was, it was still too new for her to feel fully in command of it. And with the magestones in her blood, even the lion was stronger, faster, more deadly than it had been before.
My scent told her I was some way off. And as she had guessed, I had a torch. She could even see the faintest reflections of its light far down the tunnel. And yet there was something … strange about the torch. An acrid scent drifted towards her, borne by the faint breeze that seemed always to fill this space. Her nose twitched, and then she loosed a tremendous sneeze.
She recognized the smell at last. It was burning pycnandra from the Greenfrost. It stung the nose and eyes, and with the lion’s sense of smell, Kaita was particularly sensitive to it. She sneezed again.
But in her mind, she laughed. Is this the best he can do? she thought. What a fool. I shall rip him limb from limb, and I shall take my time with it.
She pressed on a little faster now. Every so often, she had to sneeze again. The burning masked my scent, but that did not matter. The pycnandra torch was like a glowing beacon in the darkness, and it drew her straight towards me.
Finally, she reached the entrance to the vast cavern where the Shades had made their camp. She stopped. In the center of the cavern was a flame—but it was a little campfire, not a torch. And I was nowhere to be seen.
Kaita crouched low to the ground, baring her teeth in a silent snarl. Clever, she thought. But not nearly clever enough.
With a source of light in view, she could now see the entire cavern as if it were day. I was nowhere to be found, which meant I was hiding somewhere in the rocks. Yet Kaita would be able to see me at a much greater distance than I would be able to see her.
She hugged the cavern wall, circling to the right. But she did not get even halfway there before she spotted me. I was leaning forwards between two rocks, squinting heavily in the dim light. All my attention was focused on the southern tunnel through which she had emerged. I had a cloth tied over my nose and mouth to protect me from the pycnandra smoke.
He missed me in the dark. She chuckled in her mind. But I will not miss him. She could not see Oku, but who cared about that? I would be dead before the dog even knew what had happened.
Silently she stalked forwards on her padded feet. Soon she was within fifty paces of me. Then thirty. She edged slightly around so that she was directly behind me.
Only ten paces now. It was an easy leap for the lion form. She tensed, her body coiling. The tip of her tail swished back and forth.
I whirled to face her.
“Hello,” I said. And I fired the arrow I had nocked.
Kaita was too surprised to dodge. The arrow sank into her shoulder. She snarled and darted aside before I could loose another shot. Twisting her neck, she seized the arrow in her teeth and ripped it out with a yowl. Her eyes glowed black, and the wound began to seal itself shut.
Steer, she spat in her mind. One arrow? Your whole quiver would not be enough to stop me. She readied herself to rush me.
And then, scentable beneath the pycnandra, something filled her nostrils.
Familiar. Dangerous.
Kaita panicked. She tried to turn and flee. But from nowhere, a spear butt crashed into her temple. Even as Kaita reeled back, the spear came around again to crash into the other side of her head.
She fell on her side. Her magic slipped from her, and the mountain lion form melted away.
Mag stepped into view, Oku at her side.
While I had drawn Kaita to the western tunnel, Mag had brought the pycnandra sticks through the eastern tunnel. With them she had lit the campfire as soon as she had arrived. The acrid smoke had kept Kaita from scenting Mag, and focusing on me had kept her from noticing any other signs of Mag’s approach.
Until it was too late.
Now, together, we loomed over Kaita. Mag had her spear, and my bow was in my hand with another arrow nocked. To my right, Oku growled and bristled at her, his teeth bared.
Kaita glared up at us with hatred, her eyes flitting back and forth. There was some strange frenetic energy in her, more than fear or rage. I guessed it was the effects of the magestones. But they would have no chance to do to her what I had seen them do to Xain.
Her eyes went black, and the blackness spilled out of her in a strange glow that further darkened the already dim cave. But before she could shift, Mag slammed her in the temples again. Kaita cried out in pain.
“This is impossible,” she hissed, glaring up at Mag. “You died. I killed you.”
“You did not do a good enough job, it seems,” said Mag lightly. Her voice was muffled, for—like me—she was wearing a bandana against the pycnandra smoke.
“No!” snarled Kaita. “I saw the life leave your eyes. This is a gift of the Lord, and you are not his.”
“You are right about that.”
“We do not plan to toy with you long, Kaita,” I said. “Not like you did with Mag. But we did have a few things to say before your tale ends.”
Kaita snarled and looked ready to lunge. But then the tip of Mag’s spear was at her throat. She went very still.
“I am certain you think this is all my fault,” I went on, “because of what happened in Tokana in our youth. Or mayhap you think it is Mag’s fault, for joining me in the Upangan Blades. Dark below, you might even blame your Shade friends. But I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, that that is not true. This is your fault, and yours alone.”
I knelt, elbows on my knees, and made sure her withering glare was on me as I continued.
“You are a spiteful, hateful person, Kaita. I suspect you always have been. Your own choices are what brought you to this cave. It is true that you fell under the influence of cruel people. But so did I.” There was no hiding the note of bitterness that had crept into my voice. “And I did not turn into the sort of detestable scum that you are. It was your choice to turn that hatred outwards, to let it become violence.”
Kaita looked ready to rip my skin from my body if Mag’s spear had not been poised to strike. “You are a useless whelp,” she spat, “and you always have been. You abandoned everyone who could have made you into something great. And you think you are better than me?”
I arched an eyebrow. “Which of us has the arrow ready, and which is on her back?”
“You would be nothing without the sow at your side!”
The dizziness from Mag’s strikes had passed. Kaita slapped Mag’s spear away and rolled aside, her eyes filling with the dark glow. But Mag swung the spear around with the momentum of Kaita’s blow, slamming the flat of the blade into her head.
Kaita fell facedown on the ground, gasping. Mag stepped up and put her foot on the back of her neck.
“You are wrong,” said Mag simply. She was not in her battle-trance. She did not need it. And I suspect that she wanted to feel every emotion and sensation of this moment. “You could not be more wrong. Albern is better than you, in the only way that matters.” Her gaze met mine. “In many ways, he is better than me. And he always has been. But as for you … you and I have been enemies since before I knew who you were. You have been trying to hurt the ones I love since the first day I saw you. You could have turned back whenever you wanted, gone on to find another path. But you chose each step you took, and every one brought you closer to this place, and this time. And once you took Sten from me …”
Her voice shook. And I saw the trance start to come into her eyes, sliding across her face. But it stopped, and she pushed the mask away, letting the tears flow.
“You should have slit your own throat that day. It would have saved us all a great deal of time. You could never have escaped me once I decided to kill you. And you would have served your Lord better as a corpse than alive. Then, at least, he would not have lost everything we have taken from him already. And he would not now be destined to lose everything we will take in the future.”
Kaita screeched, “I will rip you apart in the dark below, you—”
Mag drove the spear through her heart.
Kaita spasmed beneath her boot, her fingers clawing at Mag’s ankle. But she could find no purchase. She tried desperately to reach the spear, but Mag twisted it, and Kaita’s arms fell to the ground. Her eyes were wide as she kept gasping like a fish flung onto the shore. Her form started to shift, her eyes glowing black. But Mag had struck her too hard, too many times. Shock and the Mystics’ trick kept her from sealing her wounds, or from taking another form. And yet still she tried.
Mag squatted beside her. Kaita tried to strike, but Mag caught the wrist—just to hold it, not even squeezing. A pace away, Oku stopped growling and sat back on his haunches. He cocked his head as he looked down at Kaita’s jerking form.
“Fare well,” said Mag. “Sten is avenged. You may see him briefly in the darkness below, while he is resting, and before the evil ones take you. I am sure it will put him at peace. That is the only service you have left to render.”
And Kaita died.
I will not lie to you, Sun. It felt good. Oh, I know it did not solve anything. It did not bring Sten back, nor did it lessen the pain of his absence. I underst
and why people say that revenge is not the answer.
But neither should they say that it does not feel good in the moment. Because it does.
And some people just need to die.
Mag, Oku, and I turned and left the cave. We did not look back at her. Not even once.
Captain Kun was in what remained of his camp, holding council.
It was dawn. In the day and a half that had passed since the Shade attack, his force had rested, recovered, and reclaimed as much of their supplies and possessions as they were going to. Now he was discussing his plans with Tou and the remaining lieutenants. He was listening to them as they spoke. But mostly, he was thinking of Zhen, of his sister’s eyes in his nephew’s face, staring at an empty, uncaring sky.
Kun was torn. He knew it was his duty to lead the army to safety, to a place where they could resupply themselves and avoid starvation in the icy wilderness. But part of him wanted to go after Mag and I. He wanted to assemble a small group to hunt us down. And he wanted to lead the hunt himself, though that would endanger his forces.
It was not the right thing to do, but he wanted to do it all the same.
There came a hail from outside. One of Kun’s guards had issued a challenge. The council all paused, looking towards the tent’s large door. Tou glanced at Kun, and Kun met his gaze.
After a moment, the tent flap opened. In stepped Kun’s guard, along with a tall archer of Feldemarian looks. Kun remembered his name as Chausiku. He had once been in my squadron.
Kun’s jawline went rigid.
“Soldier,” said Tou, frowning. “What is it?”
Chausiku lifted his hand. And now they could all see that it held an arrow, and to the arrow was tied a roll of parchment.
“This struck the ground near me, sir,” said Chausiku. “It was only moments ago. The outside …”
“Let me see it, soldier,” said Kun.
Chausiku swallowed hard. “Captain, mayhap I should give it to Lieutenant—”
“Yes, Captain, let me—” Tou began.
The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) Page 88
