The Realms Thereunder aet-1

by Stephen Lawhead

  The Realms Thereunder

  ( Ancient Earth trilogy - 1 )

  Stephen Lawhead

  Stephen Lawhead

  The Realms Thereunder

  “But whatso hap at the end of the world,

  Where Nothing is struck and sounds,

  It is not, by Thor, these monkish men

  These humbled Wessex hounds-

  “Not this pale line of Christian hinds

  This one white string of men,

  Shall keep us back from the end of the world,

  And the things that happen then.

  “It is not Alfred’s dwarfish sword,

  Nor Egbert’s pigmy crown,

  Shall stay us now that descend in thunder,

  Rending the realms and the realms thereunder,

  Down through the world and down.”

  T HE B ALLAD OF THE W HITE H ORSE

  PROLOGUE

  1

  The Swindlestock Tavern 20th April, 1524

  “And I say that you’re a fool, Addison Fletcher!” the brawny man declared, striking his ale mug against the bare wooden table for emphasis.

  “God smite me where I sit if I tell a lie, Coll Dawson!” Addison protested, his eyes flicking heavenward for the briefest of moments.

  “Ah, but-did you not say,” declared Coll, cocking an eyebrow and pointing a finger. “Did you not say that you got this account from another-”

  “From Rob Fuller,” piped a voice from the end of the table.

  “Aye, from Rob Fuller. And who’s to say that a tale told by Rob Fuller is true or false? Swearing oaths upon secondhand tales is not wise.”

  “Then tell me, is it wisdom or foolishness to trust honourable men? I’ve known Rob this last twenty year and judge him to be a straight and honest man.”

  “Even so,” continued Coll expansively. “An honest man may-”

  “Enough!” came a shout from the table next to theirs. “You bicker like a pair of divinity scholars. I would hear the rest of the tale and judge for myself!”

  “Aye, the tale!” came another shout from behind Addison, and the chorus was picked up by all of those in the tavern who were in earshot of the two men.

  “Alright! Alright!” Addison banged his ale mug on the table.

  When a reasonable silence fell on the room, he drew breath to speak. “Where had I gotten to?”

  “ ‘The blacksmith was working late on a moonless night when a man walked in . . . ,’ ” a helpful listener prompted.

  “Aye, aye, just so. And full old he was-with a beard, white as a cloud, down to his waist, and a red-”

  “You described him already!” came a cry from another table.

  “And a red robe!” Addison Fletcher shouted. “A red robe that was bordered with all manner of delicate and intricate designs!

  Alright? ”

  There was chuckling among the crowd.

  “Anyhow,” Addison continued, quieter. “This old gent comes up to the blacksmith-Sam, the blacksmith’s name is-and bids him good evening. Sam bids him likewise and asks what service he can give the old man. The old man without saying a word hands him a bar of gold this big.” Addison held his hands apart.

  “‘What’s this?’ asks Sam.

  “‘I need you to make a shoe from this strip of gold that would fit a warhorse,’ says the stranger, and gives him the size, which is large enough for a destrier. The blacksmith sets to work and-it being no especially hard task to shape gold-he soon has the shoe made. He hands it over to the old man along with the parts of the gold bar that he hasn’t used. He does this thinking that he’ll get some of the gold in return and more of it if he’s honest. For in working with the stuff, he’s judged it to be proof pure.

  “But the gent merely puts the gold scraps in a pouch he carries on his belt and asks the smith to pick up his shoeing tools and follow him.

  “ ‘Where are we going?’ asks Sam, and the old man answers that the job isn’t finished until the horse itself is shod. With assurance that he’ll be compensated for his time, Sam falls in step alongside him.

  “Well, to hear Sam tell of it, they walk out of the town proper- this was all happening in Reading, by the way-and along the river Kennet past the abandoned abbey grounds and into the forest. They go about a mile inwards, until they reach a cave in the side of a cliff. The old man ducks his head and walks in without pausing and Sam’s right behind him trying not to lose sight of him in the dark.

  “It’s not too long before they come to a small room carved out in the rock in the corner of which is a large pile of jewels-rubies, emeralds, diamonds, garnets, sapphires, and the like. There are two grand archways in this small room leading to two large halls like feasting halls. In one of them he can see men, warriors, all done up head to foot in armour, and sleeping, each laid out on the floor shoulder to shoulder, toe to toe.

  “In the other room are horses, massive warhorses, all of them likewise asleep but upright and covered in fine blankets under which they wear armour. And each one of them is shod with four golden horseshoes.

  “The old man enters this second room, but Sam is told to stay where he is, and not to touch the pile of jewels. As he waits Sam takes in all he can about the place. He ends up by counting the horses and reckons there to be about seventy or so.

  “Well, the old man reappears, leading a listing horse down the centre of the hall and into the smaller chamber.

  “Sam is told by the old man to shoe the horse and so he does, all the while eyeing the pile of jewels and asking questions- questions about where he is, who the knights are, and how the horses have been kept-but the old man doesn’t say a word, as if he can’t hear Sam.

  “Well, Sam eventually finishes his work and puts his tools away. The old man studies his work, praises his handicraft, and then hands Sam a leather pouch. Sam opens it and finds it empty.

  He asks the old man what it is.

  “‘You may fill this pouch with whatever gemstones you wish from the pile,’ the old man answers. ‘But do not put anything of value in your shirt, tool satchel, or anywhere on your person, else the knights will wake up and surely kill you. Fill it as much as you can but make sure that you are able to draw the strings shut, for if you leave with it open the knights will wake up and surely kill you and I won’t stop them.’

  “So Sam goes over to the pile as the old man leads the horse away and he starts cramming the bag full of precious stones. He’s sufficiently scared of the old man’s tale about the knights killing him to not put anything on his person. But also he’s thinking that he’ll make a return trip here the next morning with the same pouch and carry even more away.

  “Sam packs the pouch tight enough to just be able to pull the strings together, and the old man leads him out of the cave.

  “Once outside the old man turns to him and says that he may return to his forge, but he is not to tell anyone of what he has done this evening. The old man then goes back into the cave and Sam walks home.

  “Now anyone who knows Sam knows that it only takes a prod to start his tongue wagging and scarce has he crossed his own door’s threshold then he’s gabbing to his wife about all that’s just happened to him. She finds this all hard to believe-”

  “She’s not the only one,” Coll Dawson said to the man sitting next to him.

  “But,” continued Addison, “he’s got the bag full of gemstones that he carried out with him. He throws this on the table and says, ‘Here’s the proof.’

  “The wife opens the bag and sticks her hand in and pulls out something small and hard and then lets go of both it and the bag. ‘What is this? A joke?’ she asks, angry.

  “Sam goes over to the bag and tips out the contents onto the tab
le. Instead of all his diamonds, rubies, and such, there’s just a pouchful of old dried-up horse droppings. Sam tries to tell the tale again, but his wife has lost patience with him and makes him sleep that night in the forge.”

  “Women are unreasonable like that,” said a man at the next table.

  “The next day,” Addison continued peevishly, “Sam goes back into the forest to look for the cave but he can’t find it. He finds a cliff face that he thinks is the same place, but it is just a blank wall of stone. He keeps hunting around and finds a few caves but none of them go back very far.

  “He’s gone back every day since, sometimes in the morning, sometimes in the night, but he has never found the chambers of the sleeping knights again.”

  Addison Fletcher had finished his tale and marked it by taking a long drink of his ale. “So now,” he said, wiping his moustache. “What do you say to that?”

  “I’ve heard it before, told just that way,” said one man from the back of the crowd.

  Addison’s face brightened. “Yeah?”

  “Yeah, only it wasn’t just an old man in red, it was Merlin himself!” Addison’s face fell. “And it wasn’t just any knights the blacksmith saw, but the Knights of the Round Table. Waitin’ for judgment, they were.”

  “When I was on tour in the Freincs’ lands,” said a grizzled man at the next table, “I heard a man tell it as with Charlemagne who needed a golden spear. But he was sleeping under this famous mountain, like.”

  “Lies, that is. It’s dragons that live in mountains.”

  “But what about my-” Addison tried to break in.

  “Nay, ye daft bugger, they lie on top o’ them,” argued the war veteran. “They fly about above the clouds in the day and sleep atop a mountain of nights.”

  And they all fell about to arguing over these and related matters until the bell rang for closing.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Oxford Is Not Safe

  1

  Eight Years Ago . . .

  FOUND!

  Manhunt for missing kids ends in Scotland.

  Daniel Tully and Freya Reynolds, the two schoolchildren who went missing 72 days ago, have been found near Kilmarnock, in East Ayreshire, Scotland. Alex Simpson, the son of a farm owner, discovered them yesterday at 5:04 p.m. Both were covered in mud and displayed signs of severe shock and were disturbed mentally but were otherwise in good health when examined at St. Bride’s Hospital by Peter Tavish, MD. No statement has yet been made by the children. A joint statement by the parents and the police describe themselves as “joyful and relieved” at the return of the children, who will be driven to Glasgow to undergo further examination.

  Daniel Tully, 13, and Freya Reynolds, also 13, went missing on a class trip to a church in Abbingdon in the British Midlands over two months ago. Criminal experts are at a loss to explain. (continued on page 5)

  2

  Now . . . Daniel Tully sat unmoving and unnoticed-just another gargoyle on Broad Street. A paper cup in front of him held fifty-six pence in small coins and there were two pounds in his pocket. That meant either a proper meal or a bed in the night shelter. He really wanted both. He could try blagging his way into the homeless cafe-the Gatehouse-even though he was too young at only twenty years old. That would give him a meal and he could buy the bed and keep the fifty-six pence for tomorrow.

  “Spare change, mate?” he asked a pair of business trousers.

  The legs continued without breaking stride. Two other pairs of legs coming the other way stopped in front of him and he looked up.

  Two girls, students, stood in front of him and one of them was digging around in her purse. She hastily fished out a couple of coins-her friend gazing sourly at her all the while-and dropped them into his cup.

  “God bless you,” Daniel said. “Both of you, God bless you.”

  They hurried away, the sour one berating her friend for-what, exactly? Daniel sat stoically until they dashed between the columns of the Bodleian Library. Then he leaned forward and inspected the latest windfall. There looked to be seventy-eight pence now. That meant she only gave him twenty-two.

  Sighing, he got up, shouldered his overstuffed rucksack, and started walking to St. Michael’s Street. The bodies in front of him shifted, opened, and closed in their usual manner. And through the ebb and flow, a figure was suddenly revealed and then hidden again-a small, lean, heavily tattooed figure that walked with an animalistic gait, wide and lurching.

  Daniel froze, his heart racing. He pushed his breath out in a low whistle, his hand instinctively rising and clutching at an object hanging under his jacket along his rib cage. He gripped it so hard that his knuckles went white.

  With an effort he opened his fist and started walking again.

  He strode quickly this time, weaving deftly through the crowd, trying to close the gap between himself and the tattooed head. He still had not caught sight of it by the time he stood underneath Carfax Tower, the intersection of the town’s busiest foot traffic. He stood, turning slightly as he rapidly scanned the faces of those approaching from four directions, hoping-but dreading-to see the squat, hairless head.

  Underneath Carfax Tower was another homeless man selling magazines-Scouse Phil. Daniel approached him with a nod. “Alright, Phil?”

  “Eee, our Dan. How’s yourself?”

  “Yeah, not bad, not bad. You ain’t seen a short bloke, kind of thin, shaved head, tattoos, that kind of thing? Passed by about ten minutes ago?”

  “That who you were looking for over there? Can’t say I’ve seen him that recently, but yeah, I’ve seen him about. Tattoos all swirly like, but with lots of edges. Nasty business he is. Largin’ himself up, throwin’ it around like God Almighty. Violent. Got thrown out of the Gatehouse a few times. You got business with him?”

  “Not as such. He was at the Gatehouse? He’s on the streets? Where does he hang out?”

  “Dunno. I’ve seen him a few times around the canals down near Hythe Bridge Street. Doesn’t keep regular with any company I know. Independent like.”

  “Name?”

  “Don’t know a name. Best left well alone in my opinion. Wide berth, Danny, wide berth. Listen, if it’s some horse you want-”

  “Nah, see you around, Phil. Cheers.”

  “Cheers, then. Be well.”

  Daniel turned and joined the crowd. A glance up at the clock tower showed the time to be twenty to five. The Gatehouse would be open now. He stroked his beard and turned his feet in that direction.

  It was the busiest time of the day. People crisscrossed in front of him, ducking into shops, doing after-work errands before going back to their homes and dinners with their loved ones. Groups of tourists-students on school trips, all of them with matching yellow backpacks-stood in clusters outside the fast food restaurants, yelling at and flirting with each other. And for the second time that day Daniel caught a glimpse from within the swarm of faces of someone he recognised.

  He stopped in his tracks. “It can’t be . . .”

  He turned and looked at the sea of people. She wasn’t there anymore; the tide had closed. Lurching forward, he ducked into Ship Street, a long, narrow, fairly empty side road. There were two people at the far end and a solitary one walking away from him.

  This person was young-his age-female, slender, with black hair that was tied up loosely-and she carried a bag that looked to be bulging with books. A student, then. One hand dangled at her side and he could see that it was a light creamy brown.

  He found his voice and shouted, “Freya!”

  She didn’t turn around or even break her stride but kept walking. He shouted her name again.

  “Freya, come back!”

  Without turning around she broke into a run, sprinting away from him.

  He chased after her. He was only halfway down the street when she had reached the end, and by the time he finally made it to Turl Street, she was out of sight.

  For the second time that day-that hour-he stood bewildered, searching the face
s in the crowd. He wasn’t surprised that she ran. If she was a student, then it may not be too hard to find her again, but what did it mean? First one of those creatures, and now Freya-two people he’d nearly given up ever seeing again. The fingers of his right hand stroked the edge of a notebook that was tucked in his jacket pocket. He would have to record these incidents later. No time now.

  He retraced his steps and cautiously approached the Gatehouse, spending a futile ten minutes trying to convince the lady at the door that he was over twenty-five when they both knew he wasn’t. In the end he asked for a plastic bottle he had to be filled with water and then he went across the street and waited, slunk against a low brick wall. He passed the time by trying to get his nerves under control but was unsuccessful in doing anything more than slowing his breathing.

  The Gatehouse closed at six, its patrons trickling out singly or in pairs. If the tattooed man was in there, Daniel knew that he would be noticed but almost certainly not recognised. He hoped that would be enough of an edge.

  Fewer and fewer people were coming out now and Daniel was about to get up himself when the tattooed man appeared. He got a good, clear look at him this time. Hairless, dressed in a loosefitting T-shirt and black leather trousers. It didn’t look like he was carrying any weapons except perhaps a knife in his pocket. Swathes of ink covered his body so broadly it was possible to think that he was naturally blackish-blue with only patches of white. His face was lumpy and swollen in the way that a continual scrapper’s usually are; his features doughy and slightly formless. His lips were curled into a thin, cruel line and his ears were ragged, torn. He wore sunglasses that comically humanised him, like a dressed-up pet; for there was now no doubt in Daniel’s mind about the creature’s true identity.

  It walked towards him on the opposite side of the street. Although Daniel couldn’t see its eyes, it must have spotted him, though it gave no sign. It continued walking and turned the corner.