by A J Dalton
His people had run out of time then. Maybe Torpeth’s hand had been forced. Aspin nodded. Feeling a new weight of responsibility on his shoulders, Aspin passed through the grove before it could begin to visit further revelations on him, revelations concerning the likely future that were no doubt so terrible he would be unmanned completely. Suddenly scared, he quickened his pace until the grove of yews was lost behind him. Perhaps he would never be able to find the place again.
Leaving the foothills, he found the going easier than expected. No snow had fallen in the lower lands thus far, and he even found he was too warm in his layers of goatskin. There were also plentiful amounts of food to be had: from mushrooms to nuts, to birds, to fish in streams and even a rabbit or two.
Then he came across a wide, wide path made of flat stones. It disappeared beyond sight ahead and behind him. Who had created this path and how long must it have taken? These others must be far more powerful than he’d ever imagined. Guessing that the path led somewhere important – perhaps to the home of the others even? – he began to follow it. He travelled quickly on the wide and level path, and he found there was suddenly hope in his heart.
Aspin whistled as he went and therefore didn’t hear the wagon coming up behind him until a distant voice hollered at him.
‘Hey there! Jillan, is that you?’
Aspin almost jumped out of his goatskins, so startled was he. He spun and took in the wagon, pulled by two chestnut mares, coming towards him. A lone tubby man with greying hair held the reins of the horses loosely in his hands. Aspin knew he had time to run into the trees if he wanted to, but he’d been seen now, and besides the man had an open face and no weapons in evidence.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ said the wagon-driver. ‘You looked like someone I know is all. You’ve both got fair hair and are of a similar height, but I can see that you’re older. Forgive me. My name’s Jacob. I’m a trader from Godsend. I take it you’re travelling from Heroes’ Brook. Road still flooded, eh? Long walk to Saviours’ Paradise.’
‘I … Yes. My name is Aspin, good man Jacob.’
‘Tell you what, why don’t you take a seat up here beside me and I can take you on to Saviours’ Paradise. You’ll be going for the market, yes? Looking to trade skins are you, or to find some work?’ Jacob winked. ‘Or looking to find yourself a maiden.’
Aspin nodded cautiously and then attempted a smile. ‘Yes.’
‘Come along then, up you come. I’ll be glad of the company in truth, for this is a long and quiet road, and Tilly and Floss aren’t the most talkative, eh, girls?’ One of the horses snorted in answer as Jacob flicked her rein.
Aspin found himself laughing with this jolly man, and settled back to hear his wild, wonderful and sometimes worrying tales of life in Godsend. He was just relieved that the first person he’d met upon entering the Empire hadn’t tried to kill him. Perhaps the old gods still had enough power to provide him with some limited fortune.
One of the Saviours stirs! Hide and do not move! See and hear nothing! It is D’Shaa. The Saviour ascends from the level of the sacred to the enlightened! Clear out of the Saviour’s path so they may rise with all speed!
D’Shaa drifted up the eternal staircase, each step six foot deep and high. They were no obstacle for one such as her, of course, who could move like the wind or support herself on the air. But the steps were a definite challenge for the paltry beings who were the retainers. She casually crushed them as she would flick dust off her statuesque shoulders. Their lives were so transient and meaningless that they were little more than dust anyway. Indeed, most of the filth that settled out of the air in the Great Labyrinth was comprised of the dead cells that constantly sloughed off their skin. The retainers started dying as soon as they were born. They were a sort of living death that appalled all of her kind and left none in any doubt that this world should be undone before its sickness found a way to spread through the cosmos. To think that their dead cells floated in the air and that she effectively breathed and ate them! It revolted her and made her sickened by her own body, the physical form her kind had to assume in this world. Once the Geas was consumed, she would be free of this miserable muddy world, free to spread her wings and sail through the cosmos wherever her whim took her. Ah, the wonders and power that would be hers once she was free of this tawdry yet binding place. Soon, soon. And as long as she could survive dangerous and conniving competitors like D’Selle.
She drifted upwards more quickly, entering a higher area of the Great Labyrinth usually forbidden to one of her rank. The ever-watchful Elder Thraal would have no doubt foreseen her visit – perhaps even before she had decided upon it herself – and it did not do well to keep him waiting, lest she provoke his ire. Just daring to venture to a higher area was risky enough, but initiating an audience with an elder before being summoned was unprecedented, unheard of in all the time her kind had been on this world. It was all but unthinkable: if the elder disapproved then he would likely not hesitate to destroy her so that the transgression would become indeed unthinkable once more.
Yet she had no choice. She came to the thick stone seal behind which Elder Thraal was entombed. Retainers were not permitted to enter the presence of an elder, of course, since any retainer could only sully such a presence, but also because the power of the elders was such that any life energy in their presence would naturally be Drawn straight towards them, just as air or matter was drawn towards a vacuum. Simply, retainers died when coming near an elder. Even lesser Saviours, those of the rank of blessed and below, avoided contact with the elders whenever they could, since they would be severely reduced by the experience. D’Shaa, however, as one of the sacred rank, would suffer little as long as the audience did not go on for too long.
Finding the crack between seal and rock face, she slid through into the large chamber beyond. The room was lit by orbs of sun-metal in each corner. A cowled figure sat unmoving on a crystal throne, light shifting slowly through the ornate chair. She dared not breathe.
‘You dare disturb the Watcher of the Elders?’ thrummed the figure.
‘I risk my existence, enlightened one.’
‘Indeed you do, and you do so when you have not existed that long. The folly of youth, D’Shaa? One of your rank cannot be forgiven for such an act.’
‘Yes, enlightened one.’
Silence fell. She waited, for hours, then days. She would for years or decades as necessary, although the plague would not wait that long.
‘No, it will not,’ Elder Thraal’s voice vibrated in her mind. ‘D’Selle has you caught on the horns of a pretty dilemma, does he not? You would do well to study and learn from such a one. Your lack of foresight and your carelessness in this matter does you no credit, D’Shaa. Worse, the stability of your region suffers, which in turn damages the stability of the entire Empire. How dare you be so negligent! You are a disgrace to our kind!’
She teetered on the brink of oblivion. ‘Yes, enlightened one. I understand the horror of my error and flaw. I have come to you.’
‘Speak then, D’Shaa, for they are likely to be the last words of your shameful existence. There are vague echoes in your mind of something you would attempt, but its implications for the future are so unclear that it cannot easily be apprehended. For what is it you seek permission?’
Her tongue was like stone in her mouth. ‘Enlightened one, I would ask that the Peculiar be released into the south!’
If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought the elder had been rendered speechless, something that was surely impossible with one who was connected to nearly every living thing in this miserable world.
‘You do not know what you ask!’ the elder thundered, nearly killing her. ‘You cannot know!’
‘No, enlightened one,’ she whimpered, preparing herself for her end.
The elder stilled again. Days passed.
‘Child, the Peculiar was here long before us. He is ancient even by our measure of things, as old as the Chi’a perhaps. Pray he ne
ver turns his attention towards you, for he is a living armageddon. If we were to unleash him on the Empire, we would risk destroying both it and the Geas, leaving this world nothing but a barren rock. All of our wandering, watching and waiting would have been for naught. Not even the Great Saviour would be able to prevent the destruction. And none of us here would be permitted to exist a second longer than the destruction took, unless the Great Saviour were looking to punish us with an eternal hell. Yet you, D’Shaa, wish to unleash the Peculiar into the south because of a mere plague among the pathetic beings known as the People?’
She couldn’t answer him.
‘And yet the Great Saviour has spoken to my mind for the first time since the early days of our arrival, D’Shaa.’
She gasped. ‘The eternal one has spoken?’ What could it mean?’
‘Indeed, D’Shaa. There is significance in your making such a request. That is all.’
Significance? She did not understand such things, for the Great Saviour was as far beyond her as she was beyond a retainer. The Great Saviour had travelled through vast and unimaginable expanses of the cosmos. He had crushed entire worlds in his hands. He said there was significance in the request.
‘D’Shaa, I do not pretend to interpret the Great Saviour’s meaning, but know this: I believe the Geas is finally moving. What you will not know is that in addition to the events in your region, there have been strange stirrings in a mine in the northern region. The mad one we keep deep beneath the labyrinth has also begun to rant and scream without surcease, just as he did in the early days of his capture. None of this is coincidence. We must determine a decisive response. And now you come asking for the release of the Peculiar. By the proclamation of all the elders, therefore, your request is hereby granted, D’Shaa.’
CHAPTER 6:
There being no escape from what we are
The ground rumbled and Freda slowly came awake. She’d sunk into the ground as she’d slept and now she struggled to orient herself. Which way was up? She headed for the sandier earth and her head broke through into the world of the Overlords once more. The whole world was as bright as sun-metal again and she groped around blindly until she found some of her sacking to put over her eyes.
She felt the vibrations of the six heavy men as they moved around rousing the children. A few moved towards the wooden pillars where she was hidden and made water. Curious creatures to expel a substance that seemed such a large part of their bodies – did they do it to stop themselves becoming too big before they were the right age? Then she held her nose as one of the heavy men made water – his smelt bad and of the liquid he’d been drinking before going to sleep. No wonder his body wanted to be rid of that! It smelt like he was ill or dying. The heavy man who had smoked a pipe before began coughing, and he sounded like he was ill or dying. Very curious creatures. And the heavy man was already starting to fill another pipe. Norfred had smoked a pipe occasionally, and he’d always seemed happy and relaxed when he did, so perhaps the smoke had a similar effect on these curious creatures as diamond deposits did on her skin – they scratched and damaged her, but oh how good they felt!
The children and the heavy men ate and drank wet, runny stuff and gave some drier stuff to the strong and uncomplaining creatures who pulled the wagons. Then the two wagons were readied and they trundled away once more. She followed along with as much of herself in the ground as the webs of living wood would allow, so as not to expose too much of herself to the painful light of the sun-metal orb suspended up high in the blue wall of the vast chamber that contained the world of the Overlords. She shrouded the portion of herself above the ground in sacking as best she could, but in places the light still found a way in.
Travelling like this for a few hours, her skin became painfully dry and cracked. As long as the cracks didn’t spread over her whole skin or go too deep into her, she would be all right. After a few hours more, however, she was beginning to suffer and found she could not move as freely as before. Weren’t they ever going to stop? The children certainly seemed to be in need of some respite, judging from the high-pitched noises they made. The light of the sun-metal orb beat down on them mercilessly, and she could sense it burning their skins also.
Just as she was beginning to wonder whether she should stop the wagons herself, in order to help the children, the sun-metal orb began to recede and the temperature fell. The wagons pulled up in a similar fashion to the last time the orb had retreated. The children were ordered around like last time and fires were made in exactly the same way. Leaving her sacking in a safe place, she lay just below the ground where the heavy men sat, and listened to their conversation.
‘… get to Old Fort early tomorrow, I reckon,’ the pipe-smoker was saying, ‘since we’ve not encountered any difficulties on this journey.’
The eldest harrumphed. ‘When are there ever any difficulties, eh? Still, it’ll be good to be back quickly so that there’s time for a bath and a woman in the town before having to get the kids to the fort’s Selecting Officers. We’ll escort the sun-metal onto Saviours’ Smithy the day after, so you lot can have a few hours’ free time in the town when it’s not your shift guarding the wagon. Stay out of trouble, though, hear me? I do not want to have to come looking for you the next morning in some flophouse, backstreet inn, gambling den, punishment chamber or wherever else your vices take you. In fact, if you’re not all present and correct when I’m ready to leave, I’ll report you as deserters, get me?’
The men cheerfully agreed.
‘You’ll find Horse in the stables the next morning, I’ll be bound!’ Slim said quietly, eliciting chortles from the others, although what he was implying was beyond Freda.
‘At least a horse keeps a civil tongue in its head,’ the man who tended the strong and uncomplaining beasts replied carefully.
‘Isn’t able to complain, you mean,’ Slim came back quickly.
There was a loud smack and crack, and Slim was yelling in pain.
‘Think yourself lucky I didn’t do more than break your nose,’ the eldest said with some satisfaction. ‘That was your final warning, Slim. If you’ve got any friends left here, they might see to that for you. Otherwise, if you can’t keep a respectful tongue in your head, then I suggest you have it cut out before someone decides to cut your throat instead. Stop your crying as well – what sort of soldier cries about something as minor as a broken nose?’
‘Look on the bright side,’ Big Harold advised as he lowered the evil-smelling bottle from which he’d been drinking. ‘I think the Captain actually helped make you better-looking. You should thank him, you know.’
There were laughs all round. The pipe finally seemed to take pity on the caterwauling Slim. ‘Come here! Don’t worry. I’ve done this before.’
There was a loud creak and crunch and Slim was suddenly screaming even more loudly.
‘Dying men make less noise,’ Horse observed.
‘Seems to be getting plenty of air to his lungs. Good sign,’ the Captain decided.
‘Good vocal range too. Could play a female on the stage,’ the youngest attempted, and was delighted when most of his elders laughed or nodded.
‘I had to straighten it, Slim,’ the pipe explained. ‘Trust me – I did you a favour. Crooked, you would have had trouble breathing the rest of your days.’
‘Or he would have been able to smell round corners?’ Big Harold speculated. ‘Useful, that would be, ’cause you’d know who was coming before you met ’em. Maybe we should make Slim’s nose crooked again.’
‘’Strue,’ Horse agreed. ‘If you were stepping out with a lady friend, like, and then you smelt another of your lady friends coming round the corner, well, then you’d have time to make yourself scarce maybe, or to get yourself posted to the other end of the Empire in a hurry.’
‘Den dor lady fren mud mell a lod, eh, Orse?’ Slim yelled as best he could.
‘What did he say?’
‘Say that again, Slim? I didn’t quite catch it. It mig
ht be my ears.’
‘I think he said Horse’s lady friends must smell a lot,’ the pipe supplied helpfully.
‘Really? Wow. You have done this before. I didn’t catch a single word of it.’
Horse swung his head towards the eldest and asked mildly, ‘Can I hit him this time, Captain?’
The eldest considered for a moment and then shook his head. ‘You’ve all had enough fun for one evening. Much more and you’ll become overexcited and won’t be able to get to sleep properly. Then you’ll be tired and irritable the next day. You know how you get.’
‘’Strue,’ Horse conceded.
‘Slim, first watch is yours,’ the eldest informed the distressed mole-faced man. ‘Try and keep the noise down, could you? The more beauty sleep this ugly lot can get, the better.’
She dreamed of the rock god again. Why she thought it was the rock god, she didn’t know, and whether it really was the rock god, she had no idea. After all, it was a dream, and dreams rarely made sense to Freda.
‘Why don’t you help me?’ the vast being groaned as it wrestled in vain with the shaft of sun-metal through its gut.
‘I don’t know how,’ Freda confessed. ‘The sun-metal pains me too. Tell me what to do.’
‘I do not have long. Find Haven,’ the rock god said weakly, his voice dying away.
‘I must find Jan first. I promised Norfred. What is Haven?’
There was no reply and she somehow lost sight of the rock god.
‘If you will not find Haven, then you defy Gar and are his enemy,’ hissed a voice behind her.
She turned and a twisting creature of green stone was weaving through the earth towards her. She quickly backed away. ‘I am no one’s enemy … except maybe Darus, because he hurt Norfred. I am not your enemy. I do not even know you.’
‘I am the jade dragon of Gar’s fabulous will. You will find Haven or you will need to beware my wrath. Awake and beware!’
Beware!
Freda started awake. All was dark. One of the heavy men was moving across the camp … was it stealthily or in a considerate attempt not to wake the others? Disguised as the footsteps were, she was not sure who it was. She raised her head above the ground and made out Slim in the firelight. A knife glinted in his hand and he was approaching the slumbering Captain!
