What Lies Within (Book 5)

by Martin Ash

  Leth had weighed the prospects carefully: the southern road with its guarantee of heavy Karai traffic, or the dubious unknowns of Angsway. With no great cheer he had opted for the latter. He kept his eyes peeled now for the ram's skull nailed to a tree which Jalibir said marked Angsway's beginning. And when he came to it he paused and looked about him into the silent trees and concealing mist.

  'Iss, if you are truly able to aid us, be ready now.'

  ii

  Leth, Galry and Jace had been three hours upon Angsway when they came upon the tombs. Progress had been laboured. Leth's impulse from the beginning was to urge his mount forward to make as much headway as possible, but the presence of the donkey upon which the children rode forced them to travel at a pace that seemed leisurely to the point of exasperation. Moreover, Angsway was narrow, frequently traversing back and forth as it scaled steep heights, and often slippery and quite treacherous. There were occasional stretches of level ground where both horse and donkey could break into a trot for a short distance, but even here the softness of the earth hampered and rapidly tired both animals.

  The tombs - there were twenty in all - were set back on each side of Angsway, so that Leth and the children rode down a long, unbroken avenue between them. They were identical in design, each formed of a single massive cuboidal block of stepped blue granite. The stone was alien to the region, and no one knew its place of origin, nor how it had been transported to Angsway. Each of the colossal carved blocks was estimated to weigh hundreds of tons. Generations of investigators had puzzled over them and failed to arrive at an explanation of how they had been carried here. There was no known form of transport, past or present, that could have borne them.

  The tombs were believed to have been left by an ancient race called the Sagin, whose origins were lost in the blur of fargone history and myth. They were thought to have been titans, but little else was known about them. Complex arrays of glyphs and sigils were etched into the tombs' walls. These had been copied and pored over by generations of mages and professors at the Arcane College of Enchantment's Reach and elsewhere. But they had defied decipherment, and virtually no insight into the ancient Sagin language had been gained.

  The Sagin tombs were part sunken into the earth. They rose to some forty feet. Each rectangular block was surmounted by a perfect solid dome, shaped out of the original block. A flight of fifteen wide steps ran up the front wall of each, allowing access to the dome and roof.

  At the vertex of each dome a finial rose in the form of a sphere onto which certain marks were etched. Out of the sphere odd, radiating shards of stone protruded assymetrically. Other finials to the number of nine were set about the upper surface of each roof, surrounding the central dome at varying distances. They too were spherical and of differing sizes. All bore radiating shards, but none were identical. This arrangement was repeated with slight variations of positioning on every one of the twenty tombs. Experts speculated that the placement of the globular finials were of astronomical significance, as were the angles and alignments of the tombs themselves. If this were true, the precise significance remained a mystery.

  No means of entrance to any of the Sagin tombs had ever been discovered. Investigators attempting to excavate beneath them had met uniformly grisly and unaccountable deaths, which had the effect of discouraging others from following in their footsteps. Hence the tombs had been untouched for many years. They rested, fabulous and forbidding, sentinel still, part-overgrown with trailing ivy, convulvulus, wild clematis, bramble and moss, monuments to a past that would probably never be known.

  Galry and Jace were once again singing to themselves, but they fell silent without Leth's bidding as they came in sight of the great stones. As they rode down the avenue between them both children addressed Leth in whispers, demanding to know what these strange monuments were. Leth had never previously set eyes on the Sagin tombs. He felt awe and sombre apprehension as he passed between them. The massive stones, wreathed in mist, seemed to cast a brooding aura about them. Even the birds were silent, or perhaps entirely absent, and Leth answered the children with only the briefest, hushed words.

  Passing the fifth or sixth tomb Leth gasped. Squatting on the uppermost step was a creature like nothing he had ever seen. It was huge in size, perhaps as massive as the Bridgekeeper who he had met in Orbelon's world. But there the comparison ended. In form it vaguely resembled a colossal toad, being fleshy, bulbous, and with a skin covered in warts and pustules, mottled pale yellow and grey in colour and with an oily sheen. But its head was more like that of a horribly deformed and hairless wolf, with savage, drooling jaws and low, flat ears. However, the eyes were set upon the top of the skull, two uneven cupolas clad in thick cartilaginous skin. They were large and blank, like pale grey screens.

  From the creature's neck a pair of powerful, mandible-like limbs protruded. They were tearing at some glistening red, furred, meaty substance which the thing gripped with formidably muscled forelimbs. A double row of bony spines ran down its back, and a twin-limbed tail twitched behind it and above its head, a curved, segmented sting at each tip.

  The creature glanced up and watched as Leth and the children passed. It blinked twice, slowly, then drew back its bloody lips and hissed. It angled its shoulders towards them and began to rise. A cold shudder raced down Leth's spine. His horse shied and he heard the donkey whicker in fear. He reached for his scimitar, conscious that it could have little effect against a monster such as this. But the creature settled back, returning to its meal while continuing to observe them with one baleful eye. Leth exhaled a long breath of relief when they finally rode clear of the Sagin tombs, and for some time turned frequently in his saddle, half-fearing to see the monster materializing behind them out of the mist.

  Nothing notable occurred to mark their journey over the following hours. They emerged from the sprawl of the forest onto a wide area of barren heathland. The mist failed to lift and as the day grew long, the dusk shadow began to gather close upon them. They had passed no signs of habitation and Leth was becoming resigned to passing a chill night in the open beside Angsway. The prospect held little appeal; it was in the dark hours that Angsway was said to know its direst hauntings.

  At length they came upon the ruin of a long-deserted cottage set a few paces back from the path. Leth halted and climbed down from his horse, drew his scimitar, and investigated. Four stone and flaking stucco walls still stood, and more than half an unruly turved roof, supported by sagging cedar beams.

  Satisfied that the place was untenanted Leth tethered the mare and donkey and brought his children inside. The remains of old furniture still stood within the cottage: a bowed, rickety table, chairs, a cupboard. There were also some fallen beams lying beneath the shelter of the roof. These Leth broke up and kindled a fire. He toasted strips of bacon and waybread given him by Jalibir, which they dined upon along with cheese and apples. Once they had eaten, the children curled up in their blankets beside the fire and were quickly asleep. Leth went back out, stripped the donkey and horse of equipment and, for both safety and warmth, brought the animals into the cottage, then returned to the fireside.

  Leth lay down and drew his blanket about him, but lay awake for some time, his mind abuzz. It seemed that, for all he had been through, little had been achieved. Formidable and daunting tasks still towered before him, and he was no closer to ridding Enchantment's Reach of the forces that menaced it. The Orb's Soul - could it be found? Issul had said that she and Orbelon were seeking it, with no indication that she knew anything of its whereabouts. And if it was found - and quickly - would it truly be of use against the Karai and their god, and the Legendary Child?

  Leth drifted slowly towards sleep. His mind slid back over his experiences in Orbelon's world. A strange notion came to him. He considered his early encounters with Urch-Malmain, and found himself wide awake again, his eyes open in wonder. Were there things he had failed to properly perceive or understand? He knew quite suddenly that when he at last stood face
to face with Orbelon again he would have many more questions to put to him.

  But first he must find his way overland to Orbelon and Issul.

  In the stillness of the night outside an owl hooted. Leth heard light footsteps close to the window of the cottage as some forest creature passed upon its nightly forays. He turned onto his side, trying to sleep. Something dug into his thigh. He reached into his trousers and drew forth the Locator given him by the entity, Aztin, when he had fled the Tower of Glancing Memory. He had all but forgotten it.

  He sat up and examined it in the fireglow. It was a small disk formed of a grey-green translucent stone, which fitted easily into the palm of his hand. Close to its rim, at quarterly intervals, were four fixed deep orange marks. A globule of dark blue fluidy stuff floated free within the stone itself, but as Leth observed it was drawn towards one side. The Locator would indicate the direction in which the portal lay, Aztin had said. Leth turned and tilted it in his hand; the blue substance drifted according to his motion, but returned always towards one particular direction when he held it still and level. He pocketed the Locator and lay down again. In a short space he was asleep.

  *

  In the dead of night Leth woke suddenly. His senses were alarmed, though he could not define what it was that had brought him from sleep. There was no noise, the fire had died to barely glowing embers, but Leth saw that both the mare and donkey had risen to their feet, their ears pricked. They made no sound now, but he wondered whether it was the noise of their rising that had woken him.

  And then he realized that he could see. Not clearly, but a faint, ghostly greenish-yellow light was filtering in through the damaged window of the cottage, flickering slightly. Leth rose cautiously and crept to the window. Outside an extraordinary sight met his gaze. Upon Angsway a procession was passing by: bare-headed, bare-chested men and women in two long files, linked together by collars and chains attached to their necks, their hands bound behind them. Between them and Leth soldiers walked, some holding flickering torches high. But it was not the torches that cast the dominant light, nor was it the moon, for though the figures were fully visible, all around them the mist remained full and opaque, obscuring the sky. The figures themselves were surrounded by the strange ghostly light. Soldiers and prisoners seemed between them to be radiating the light, and they passed by in utter silence.

  Leth watched, his heart in his mouth. He counted more than one hundred of the shackled figures, and had no way of knowing how many had already passed. They hung their heads; from time to time a soldier would lash out at one individual or another with a whip, or strike or prod them with the butt of a spear. And though the victims appeared to cry out when struck, and the soldiers mouthed gruff insults or curses, Leth heard no voices.

  They moved on until eventually they had all passed by. The ghostly light passed with them, gradually swallowed by the mist. Darkness returned. Leth waited a while then turned back to the interior of the old cottage. He shivered, put more wood on the fire, then lay down again and slept.

  iii

  In the morning the mist still lingered. Leth woke, stoked the fire, and stepped outside to find a man waiting before the cottage, seated upon a huge black charger. He was large of build, probably once powerfully muscled but now, at about fifty years of age, tending towards corpulence. His cheeks were full and florid, the eyebrows bushy, with a full nutmeg-brown beard and moustaches, and a fierce glint in his eyes. He was attired in fine quality studded leather armour, heavy corded trousers and a long scarlet cloak, with an embossed steel breastplate, greaves and vambraces. A battle-axe and crossbow hung from his saddle. Beyond him four other armed men loitered on horseback upon the path.

  'Good day to you, sir,' said Leth with an air of casual bonhomie that he did not feel.

  The big man returned his greeting without a smile. 'And good day to you, traveller. Tell me, who are you and why do you trespass here upon my lands?'

  'If I trespass it was unintentional, and I apologize,' replied Leth. 'I was not aware that this wilderness fell under private ownership, and certainly believed this path to be a public way. My name is Clun, and I am simply a man travelling north, trying to avoid the invaders who command the main road.'

  'Very good, and you are not the first,' said the big man. 'Still, the fact remains that you have illegally entered my land.'

  'With respect, I can but reiterate that my understanding was that this land falls under the jurisdiction of the King and no other, and is designated by him a public way.'

  'The King? Bah! What King? The King has no jurisdiction here. It was the same for his mother before him and her father before her, though they strove to assert authority. This is Angsway, independent canton of the noble and celebrated Baron Ang, who plays with kings and queens like a puppeteer manipulates marionettes. You know his name, I take it?'

  'Baron Ang? Certainly the name is not unfamiliar. He gained some renown as perhaps the most successful outlaw this kingdom has known in many years. But I believed him dead, and was not aware that another had taken his place.' said Leth.

  The big man stiffened slightly, frowned and puffed out his cheeks. 'Dead? That is a foul slur, sir! Yet again you are criminally misinformed.'

  'Again, then, I apologize. I intended no slur,' replied Leth, bemused.

  'Well, be assured there is no truth in your assumption. Baron Ang is neither dead nor replaced. He lives on, and apart from a touch of gout, enjoys rude good health and continues to lead the Crown a merry dance. And should you doubt the veracity of this statement, then doubt no longer. The evidence sits here, full-blooded and vivacious before you.'

  'You? You are Baron Ang?'

  'Indeed. Who else did you think me to be?'

  'I had arrived at no conclusion.'

  Baron Ang's gaze shifted over Leth's shoulder. Leth turned and saw Galry and Jace standing at the door of the ruined cottage.

  'Ah, and who be these two implings? Your children, Clun?'

  'That is so.' Leth had forewarned the children against announcing their identities to anyone they should meet, for fear of exciting the wrong kind of interest. To Baron Ang he introduced them now as Alwyn and Hesta.

  'And a delightful and charming pair they are too!' declared Ang. 'Though their presence thrice compounds your original trespass.'

  Leth felt a prickle of concern. 'As I said, we were not aware of having committed trespass. We seek only to avoid the Karai invaders.'

  'Ignorance in itself provides no mitigation, nor does need,' Baron Ang declared. 'That trespass has been committed is the one fact to be considered. Now, you will accompany me to Castle Ang where we will consider the crime and its punishment.'

  'And if I cite the priority of my own business, which must not suffer delay, and decline to accompany you, what then?' enquired Leth.

  'I will slay you on the spot.'

  Leth weighed the situation. He could not fight all five men. Moreover, though disquieted he was curious. There was something odd about this confrontation which he could not wholly identify. He was loath to suffer delay, but plainly was being offered no choice, and instinct told him there was something about what was happening here that warranted investigation.

  He gave a stiff nod. 'Very well, we will come with you.'

  'Excellent. You give every indication of being a sensible man.' Baron Ang leaned his weight upon the pommel of his saddle, and assumed a pensive and rather haggard expression. 'Moreover, I have some questions I would like to put to you. Something that has been giving me concern. It is possible you may be able to assist me. But first hand over your sword and any other weapons you may be carrying.'

  Leth did so with reluctance. 'May we gather our belongings?'

  Baron Ang nodded. 'You may, but be smart about it.'

  When all was done and Galry and Jace were seated upon the donkey, Leth mounted his mare. Baron Ang watched him carefully. 'That is a most unusual suit of armour you wear, Clun.'

  'Indeed, I believe it to be unique.'
>
  Ang nodded. 'I would think you are right. Now, let us be off.'

  iv

  They rode for approximately two hours, eventually to arrive at Castle Ang. Blindfolds were placed upon Leth and the children for the initial part of the journey, so they would not know which route was taken after they left the ruined cottage. When half an hour or so had passed the blindfolds were removed. They discovered themselves to be deep in wild and anonymous forest. They might have been anywhere. With the mist still close around them Leth could not even estimate the direction in which they rode. For the final stage of their journey the blindfolds were again applied so that they might not subsequently identify the approach to Castle Ang, nor even the exterior of the castle itself. Only when they were securely within Ang's walls were the blindfolds taken away.

  Limping slightly, Baron Ang led Leth and the children through a series of dreary passages to a spacious reception chamber. There he seated himself at a table and ordered an aged manservant to have food and wine brought. Leth took note of the decor. Everywhere an air of age and neglect was evident. Dust lay in swathes, coating floor, furniture and shelves. Likewise cobwebs hung from rafters, spanned windows and doors and the spaces between legs of chairs and tables. The air within the chamber was dank and chill, though a great log fire blazed in the hearth. Leth eased himself closer to the fire and confirmed to his mounting perplexity that the flames threw forth no heat.

  'We must refer again to the matter of your trespass, and its apt penalty,' announced Count Ang, gnawing on a plump leg of roast fowl. 'Here at Castle Ang there is but one law, which is my own. And I have decreed a single punishment to fit all crimes, great and small. The law is absolute and undiscriminating, and the penalty is forfeiture of life and all possessions.'