The Paths of the Dead

by Steven Brust

  "I believe," said Zerika, "that we are safe in making the assumption that their presence here is related, in some manner, to our own."

  "Let us charge them," said Tazendra.

  "But," said Piro, "how could they know about us?"

  "In many ways," said Zerika. "The simplest divination could answer a question to anyone who knows enough to ask. Or they could have spied us as we rode, and be following us for some reason. They could have been sent by Sethra with aid for us. They could have been sent by the gods to stop us. They—"

  "Let us charge them," said Tazendra.

  "On my word of honor," said Kytraan, "I am not far from agreeing with Tazendra."

  "We cannot attack them," said Zerika, "until we know if they are hostile, indifferent, or friendly toward us."

  "Nevertheless," said Tazendra, "I believe—"

  "The matter is settled," said Zerika.

  Tazendra sighed.

  "But in case they are hostile," added the Phoenix, "let us remain mounted."

  "With this I agree," said Tazendra.

  Kytraan urged his horse forward until he was shoulder-to-shoulder with Tazendra; Piro, for his part, came forward to the Dzurlord's other side. In this position they waited.

  "Do you know," said Kytraan after a moment, "I believe I recognize the fellow in front."

  "Yes," said Piro. "If I am not mistaken, it is the charming bandit whom we met on the way. Wadre, was that not his name?"

  "Indeed," said Kytraan. "That is it exactly. And that seems to be the sorceress we met. What was her name?"

  "Orlaan. But what could they wish? We have no more wealth than we did the last time we met."

  "That is true," said Piro. "And yet, I do not like it that they are together. I believe that their intentions toward us are not friendly."

  Tazendra shrugged. "Then so much the worse for them."

  "Your mistress is not lacking in confidence," remarked Lar.

  "She has reason," said Mica smugly.

  "You perceive," said Kytraan, "that the sorcerer, Orlaan, has drawn her weapon."

  "Well," said Zerika. "Then let us show her equal courtesy."

  "With this plan, I agree," said Tazendra, at once drawing her over-sized blade, which she contrived to hold with one hand as if it were a rapier. It was, we should say, what is called a hand-and-a-half sword, and rather bedecked with jewels, most of them rubies upon the hilt and even inside the bell; yet it was by no means a "dress sword," but, rather, one intended for business.

  Kytraan drew his much more modest, though still entirely serviceable, blade, which was of the type most favored by soldiers, having enough weight to protect one's self against the heaviest blade, enough length to permit a good thrust when it was called for, but being mostly designed for cutting, being sharp on both edges for its entire length, rather wide, and with a hilt long enough to accommodate two hands for those situations where brute strength, and nothing but brute strength, would do the job.

  Piro, not to be left out, drew his own sword, which was considerably the smallest of the three, at least in thickness, though it was of good length, and made of fine steel, dating back to the Sixteenth Cycle, and never having required more than the touch of a whetstone to restore a razor's edge to it. Piro's mother had discovered it in the armory of Whitecrest Manor and, though she pretended ignorance of its history, recognized it at once as a well-constructed and versatile weapon.

  Zerika had a dueler's blade—thin, light, and flexible—the sort of weapon one would not expect to encounter in general combat, and which looked as if it would break easily if asked to parry too heavy a stroke, yet she drew it and held it as if she was well acquainted with its length.

  Soon Wadre and Orlaan, followed by the rest of the band, came up before them and held there. Orlaan gave them a bow that seemed to Piro to contain a good measure of irony, and she said, "Greetings to you, fellow travelers. I am called Orlaan, and I have met some of you before."

  Kytraan and Piro returned her greeting, and Zerika said, "I am Zerika, and this is Tazendra, and I wish you a good day."

  "A good day?" said Orlaan. "Well, you wish me a good day. You hope my day is good. And yet, my dear Zerika, as you style yourself, I have cause to believe that for my day to be good requires yours to be less than good. What then?"

  "Oh, then?" said Zerika, shrugging. "Then I no longer wish you a good day. You perceive I am a very changeable person."

  "And I," said Orlaan, "admit to a curiosity, which I hope you will do me the kindness to satisfy."

  "And yet, madam, if a good day for you requires a bad day for me, I fail to see why I should satisfy your curiosity or anything else."

  "That is entirely just."

  "And then?"

  Orlaan shrugged. "You must have a question or two of me. Come. A bargain. If you will answer a question for me, well, then I will answer a question for you."

  "In fact," said Zerika, "I do have a question for you, and that is, do you intend to attempt to thwart my mission?"

  "Ah, but how can I answer that before I know what your mission is? And that, you perceive, is exactly my question."

  "You know well enough what we are doing here, madam," said Piro suddenly.

  "How, you think so?" said Orlaan.

  "I am entirely convinced of it."

  "Well," said Orlaan. "If the lady who has done me the honor to introduce herself as Zerika is, as she seems to be, of the House of the Phoenix, than, well, I believe I can make a guess as to her mission."

  "And then?" said Zerika.

  "I regret to say that I cannot permit it to continue."

  "Well, that is right and correct," said Zerika, returning irony for irony.

  "And what of you?" said Piro, addressing Wadre.

  The brigand shrugged and said, "As for us, well, we must do something."

  "But do you know of our mission?"

  "I? Not the least in the world, I assure you."

  "And if I were to tell you that we hope to do nothing less than to restore the Empire, well, what then?"

  Wadre shrugged. "I should then say that you are not alone. Indeed, I have met forces from as far away as the Kanefthali Mountains who have come east with that intention."

  "And yet," said Piro, "we have—"

  "No," said Zerika. "We will not engage in arguments with brigands. Or, at any rate, we will not argue with words."

  "Come," said Tazendra, "I like the sound of that." She flexed her sword, displaying how easily it moved in her hand, while sketching a sort of salute ending with the the weapon pointing at the eye of Mora, who was directly opposite her. Now Mora, who was Wadre's lieutenant, was not one to let a compliment like this pass without response; she immediately spurred her horse, yet the horse had hardly moved when Wadre moved his arm in an indication that she was not to advance beyond him, wherefore she drew rein, her sword, and the conclusion that the time was not yet quite at hand to charge. Those behind her, seeing the weapon in her hand, made haste to arm themselves as well.

  "If you are determined to play," said Wadre, taking his own weapon into his hand, "I give you my word we will accommodate you."

  "Shards!" said Tazendra. "I hope I will not need to beg!"

  Piro felt his heart leap as the moment for action seemed veritably at hand. He gripped his sword tighter, then, remembering his lessons, made his hand relax, so his grip was "firm enough to withstand a shock, but never so tight as to inhibit the flow of blood to the hand," as his father had said. Kytraan, likewise, drew himself up in preparation for exchanging blows.

  "Steady," said Zerika in a sharp tone.

  Piro, for his part, froze in place. Kytraan shifted in his saddle, but otherwise held himself still. Tazendra turned her head, looked back at the Phoenix, and said, "Well?"

  "We are not here," said Zerika coolly, "to dispute with these persons, but for a purpose which you know as well as I. I suggest that we give them the opportunity to leave peacefully, and let us do what we came to do."
/>   "That," said Orlaan, "is unlikely."

  "Then you intend to dispute with us."

  "That is precisely our intention."

  "Then I must reflect."

  "Reflect?" said Tazendra.

  "Reflect?" said Orlaan.

  "Reflect?" said Piro.

  "Reflect?" said Wadre.

  "Exactly," said Zerika. "You perceive, I am not here to be a hero, but to accomplish a purpose, and I must consider the best way to do so."

  "Well," said Orlaan, "I give you my word, I intend to stop you."

  "Madam," said Zerika, "I do not doubt your word."

  "That's lucky," said Orlaan.

  For a moment no one moved, and then Zerika abruptly sheathed her sword.

  "How," said Tazendra. "You cannot mean to surrender!"

  "Surrender is," said Orlaan, "a wise choice."

  "As for surrender, well, I'm afraid I must leave you, my friends, to make that decision on your own. Tazendra, I leave you with command, do as you think best."

  "How," said Tazendra. "You leave me?"

  "I do."

  "That is, you leave?"

  "Precisely."

  "But, where are you going?"

  "Where I am required to go."

  "But you can't—"

  "Good luck, my dear Viscount, and I hope Fortune permits us to meet again."

  Piro said, "Zivra—"

  This was, however, all the Phoenix had to say. Without another word, then, she turned her horse, and, applying her heels to its flanks, charged forward—that is, directly over the edge of Deathgate Falls, and so down to the Paths of the Dead waiting far below.

  Chapter the Thirtieth

  How They Battled Above

  Deathgate Falls

  The reader, who is certainly aware that not everyone who plummets a great distance into a landscape full of the mystical and the arcane is gone forever, must bear in mind that those who found themselves atop Deathgate Falls having seen the Phoenix ride off the cliff had no such awareness at all, but, rather the opposite: the certainty that they had seen the last of Zerika. We must therefore ask the reader, who knows the outcome of Zerika's action, to remember that those who lived through the experience had neither the foreknowledge of the oracle, nor the hindsight of the historian, but knew only what they could see: Zerika had just ridden straight off Deathgate Falls. Indeed, even Zerika's own remarks upon the subject, which the reader might think should have given them a clue, were lost in the suddenness of the event.

  For a moment, no one stirred—everyone astonished by Zerika's precipitous action. Piro, who had been watching her, continued to stare at the place from which she had jumped, as if he expected her to emerge from the Falls in the exact spot from which she had departed. While, to the right, he knew that his friend was dead, yet, to the left, he was unable to truly accept it. The others, though shocked, managed to recover more quickly. It was Kytraan who spoke first, saying, "My dear Orlaan, and you, my good Wadre, it seems that your reason for being here has just, well, vanished."

  "That is true," said Tazendra. "But I hope if you were, as I believe, about to do us the honor of charging us, well, the mere fact that there is now no reason to do so will not be sufficient to dissuade you."

  "I must admit," said Wadre, "that it is very near to doing so."

  Orlaan did not reply, but contented herself with staring at the place from which Zerika had jumped, as if she, like Piro, expected to see the Phoenix return from over the thundering waterfall.

  "Bah," said Tazendra. "We cannot have you come here, threaten us, prepare for violence, excite us, intrigue us, make us ready ourselves for mortal combat, and then have you simply turn and ride away. It would be, well, it would not be right. I say so. Upon my word, if you will not charge us, well, we will charge you."

  "It is useless," said Wadre, shrugging.

  Orlaan slowly brought her eyes up to meet Tazendra's. After giving the Dzurlord a look of hatred, she turned away once more. Tazendra, for her part, frowned and said, "There is something familiar about you."

  Orlaan shrugged.

  Piro was finally able to pull his eyes and his attention away from Deathgate Falls, and return it to those in front of him. Using only his knees, he brought his horse forward until he was shoulder-to-shoulder with Tazendra and Kytraan.

  Wadre, meanwhile, said, "Are you certain you will have it so? As you have said, there is no longer a reason—"

  "Certainly," said Tazendra.

  "No," said Piro.

  Tazendra looked at him. "I beg your pardon, young man, but—"

  "We have come here for a purpose. Our purpose has failed. To take out our frustration by bloodletting is, well—what would your friend Aerich say? Or my father, Khaavren?"

  "Oh, as to that—"

  "Well?"

  Tazendra sighed. "Yes, you are right, Viscount. I concede the argument. And yet—"

  "Yes?"

  "There is something about that woman."

  "Who, Orlaan?"

  "Yes. She made a gesture that seemed familiar to me, and, moreover, did you notice how, when you mentioned the name of your father and of Aerich, her eyes gleamed, as if with hatred?"

  "I noticed," said Kytraan.

  Orlaan scowled, and lifted her hand, palm out. Tazendra, for her part, matched this gesture by quickly raising the staff that had been hanging from her saddle. Orlaan scowled and, evidently not prepared to face a sorcerous duel with someone who was obviously a wizard, lowered her hand. Tazendra lowered her staff and shrugged.

  Orlaan turned to Wadre and said, "Kill them."

  "Very well, then," said Wadre, who then turned to Mora and said, "Kill them."

  "That's better," said Tazendra.

  Now our friends were positioned, at this time, on the west bank of the Blood River, and those in back (by which we mean the lackeys, Mica and Lar) were only ten or fifteen feet from the waterfall itself, so they had very little room to retreat. Not that Tazendra had a moment's thought of retreating—on the contrary, she at once spurred her horse forward, giving a loud cry rather like the screech of the creekowl, and began swinging her sword in what appeared to be wild, uncontrolled motions over her head. In reality, these motions were neither wild nor uncontrolled, but, rather, precisely calculated to inflict as much damage as possible upon her enemy—that being, in fact, Mora herself—while making it appear that the Dzurlord had less skill as a swordsman than she had; and, simultaneously, doing everything she could to startle and perhaps even frighten the enemy. The efficacy of these tactics we shall prove at once.

  In addition to Orlaan, who was standing aside from the fight, and Wadre, who was, although commanding it, not yet directly participating, there were ten of the brigands. Now, it is well known that in a fight on horseback, the initiative belongs to those who are moving; that is, the usual laws of military science that make the defender stronger than the attacker are overridden, if the reader will excuse the unintentional play on words, by the inherent strength of a mounted attack and the weakness of a mounted defense. This was one advantage our friends had, which helped make up for the disparity of numbers. Another advantage occurred almost at once when Tazendra's blade snaked its way under Mora's guard and cut her solidly in the side, breaking two of her ribs as well as knocking her onto the ground.

  At the same time, Piro, who had now experienced his first battle, was taking no chances with his own skin, but allowed his horse to carry him forward while maintaining a good guard position until he saw that he had an opening, where one of the brigands, thrown off balance by an instinctive response to Piro's rapidly charging horse, left his sword too far out of line, a mistake for which he paid dearly, as the point of Piro's sword took him in the side of his neck, giving him a deep puncture that was not easily mended, and even less easily ignored.

  Kytraan lost no time in upholding his end. He at once charged directly at Wadre, reasoning that the brigands would be less inclined to fight if their leader were dead. The reasoning wa
s good, but made without Wadre, who objected to the idea of permitting his skin to be punctured, and who registered this objection by turning his horse's head and taking himself out of combat, whereupon Kytraan turned his attention to another rider, with whom he dueled in splendid, and, one might even say, classic style for two or three passes before giving his enemy a cut in the shoulder that caused him to drop his weapon.

  By this time, we should say that the enemy, by which we refer to Wadre's band, was well scattered; this scattering being augmented by Mica, who though he had not hit anyone with his famous bar-stool, had at least made several of them duck as he rode directly through the middle of the melee, swinging wildly. Moreover, Lar had made his presence felt, which was proved by the pale expression upon the Teckla's face, and by a brigand who was stretched out insensible full length upon the ground.

  "Now that was well done," said Mica admiringly.

  Lar did not answer, being too overcome by his first taste of combat; but he did manage to make a small bow to acknowledge the compliment.

  "But tell me," said Mica. "What did you hit him with that laid him upon the ground so effectually?"

  For answer, Lar held up a large pan made entirely of cast iron.

  "Well," said Mica. "That seems to be a strong argument."

  Lar gestured back toward the man lying on the ground, as if to say, "He thinks so, at any rate."

  In the meantime, our friends turned their horses, prepared to receive a countercharge as best they could, pleased that they had evened up the numbers somewhat, and even more pleased that they no longer had the waterfall at their back. However, there was no countercharge. Indeed, there was no one to make a countercharge. The one called Orlaan was nowhere to be seen, and, except for those who were wounded or insensible, the brigands had scattered to the winds; indeed, Wadre could be seen and even heard trying to call them together.

  "What," said Tazendra. "Have we won so easily?"

  "I think we have," said Piro.

  "Their heart was not in the fight," said Kytraan.

  "Neither was mine, come to that," said Piro, looking at the top of the cliff. Indeed, if we have failed to reveal what was passing in Piro's heart during the moments of battle, it was, in part, because his own confusion provided little room for any other emotion. The reader, we believe, can understand readily enough: a friend with whom he had grown up was now, so he believed, lost. He recalled his delight upon meeting her at Dzur Mountain, and how he had spoken with pleasure of setting out with her on an "adventure." He had been aware that adventure means danger, and it had even occurred to him that he could die in the course of carrying out his duty; he had never considered that he might have to watch his friend die, and that in his duty he would utterly fail.