01 - Death's Messenger

by Sandy Mitchell - (ebook by Undead)

  “This one’s better anyway,” Fritz said, picking up Theo’s, backing down with as much bravado as he could.

  “When you’ve quite finished being masculine with each other…” Hanna interrupted, the old Kohlstadt tone had edged back into her voice for the first time in days. Rudi nodded.

  “You’re right, we haven’t any time to waste.” He buckled up his sword belt and was vaguely surprised at how natural it was beginning to feel. Then he turned to Fritz. “Find a weapon. Something you know how to use.”

  “This’ll do fine.” The lad obeyed with surprising speed, going straight for the spear he’d stolen when he deserted. Rudi was taken aback for a moment, until he realised the simpleton had spent his entire life following the lead of his brother and probably only ever felt comfortable when someone told him what to do. No wonder he’d enlisted in the army.

  “Anything else we need?” Hanna asked. Rudi cast covetous eyes at Conrad’s bow, but the memory of how keenly he’d felt the loss of his own stayed his hand.

  “We’ve got enough,” he decided, and after banking up the fire enough to keep any dangerous animals at bay until the adventurers awoke, he led the way into the woods.

  “Where are we going?” Fritz asked after a while. Mannslieb was almost full now, and even under the sheltering trees enough silvery moonlight filtered through the branches to make everything stand out clearly in shades of shimmering grey and deep, black shadows.

  “Marienburg,” Rudi said without thinking. Hanna frowned, clearly troubled by his candour, but Fritz simply shrugged. Rudi had hoped that by taking to the woods they would make good time and also delay any pursuit, but the heavy set youth was uncomfortable beneath the trees. He constantly delayed them by stumbling into bushes and getting snagged in undergrowth that Rudi would have slipped through without thinking. At least Hanna was managing to keep up without much effort.

  “How do we do that?” Fritz asked after a while. Rudi shrugged too, feeling a little nonplussed.

  “Head for the river, and follow it downstream,” he said, reverting to the old plan he and Hanna had agreed on, what seemed like a lifetime ago. With hindsight, he found it hard to believe that he had been so naive about the world such a short time before. “Maybe get passage on a riverboat.”

  “So long as we stay on board this time,” Hanna said, drawing a blank look from Fritz.

  “There’s a clearing ahead,” Rudi said with relief, seeing the moonlight intensify. He strode ahead of the others, leaving Fritz to flounder through the entangling vegetation as best he could, and Hanna to hurry him up.

  Alone for a moment, and ignoring the older lad’s muttered profanity, he stood still in the wash of moonlight, examining the glade for clues as to the best direction to take. It was obvious now that entering the woods had been a mistake, so their best bet would be to make for open ground where Fritz and Hanna could move more quickly. Directly north would be impassable, he knew, due to the swamp they’d encountered before, and he was in no hurry to encounter the rat-things again. Fritz had told him that the soldiers hunting them, and Gerhard, were camped to the south, so even if it hadn’t taken them away from Marienburg that direction was out too. But going east meant slogging through the main body of the woodland they’d entered, and that was clearly impossible if they wanted to get a decent head start on the party of sell-swords. He didn’t know how soon Alwyn would be able to perform her distance-jumping trick again, but it was clear her range was limited in some way. He needed to be sure they were beyond it before the sun rose.

  “That way,” he decided at last. The going looked easier and the trees were less mature, so the boundary of the woodland must be close. With a prickle of unease he noted that it was more southerly than their current course, but that couldn’t be helped, it wasn’t as if they were going to be marching towards the soldiers for the several hours it would take to reach their camp. Once they got to the tree line they could turn east again, resuming their course to the Reik.

  “You’re the expert,” Hanna said in a neutral tone. Rudi turned to look at her, unsure of how to respond. Things seemed different between them now, in a fashion he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Before he could think how to reply, he was struck by something odd about the ground where she stood. The moonlight was reflecting from the grass in a rippling sheen of silver, pockmarking it with black irregular shadows. He bent to take a closer look.

  “Can you do that thing with the light?” he asked. Hanna nodded dubiously.

  “If you’re sure we can’t be seen…” she began.

  “Just for a moment.” Despite himself an edge of urgency had crept into his voice. “It could be important.”

  “Did you find some tracks?” Fritz asked, looming over him and blocking out part of the moonlight with his shadow. Rudi was about to tell him to move, but thought better of it, his body would conceal the light from any observers that might be around.

  “I’m not sure,” he said instead. “We’re about to find out.”

  Hanna frowned. Her face took on the by now familiar expression of concentration. A phantom candle flame like the one she’d conjured up in the ruin winked into existence in the space between them. Fritz gasped and shied away.

  “Douse it!” Rudi had seen enough. Alarmed at the intensity of his command, Hanna let the evanescent flame wink out. They were all left momentarily blinded by the sudden rush of darkness. Rudi blinked, letting his eyes readjust to the softer moonlight.

  “Did you recognise them?” Hanna asked. In that momentary flash Rudi had seen clearly visible footprints in the soft ground. He nodded.

  “Beastmen,” he said.

  Though he strained his ears, and kept every nerve taut for tell-tale rustlings in the undergrowth, Rudi could find no further trace of the mutants before they finally broke through the trees into open ground. As they stepped out from under the branches he felt a flood of relief, which he was sure his companions would be sharing.

  “Thank Shallya for that,” Hanna muttered under her breath, and Rudi nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

  “Are we safe now?” Fritz asked, his voice trembling slightly.

  “I can’t see any signs of them having left the woods,” Rudi replied. It was a slim shred of safety to him, but it reassured Fritz anyway. He began to parallel the tree line, keeping close to the shadows. “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Far enough away to see them coming if you’re wrong,” Hanna said, glancing over her shoulder as she moved away from the woods. Out here the moonlight was so bright it could almost have been an overcast day if it wasn’t for the lack of colours. The whole desolate landscape was limned in delicate shades of silvery grey. As she turned to watch where she was treading, her hair rippled like liquid light.

  “Oh for Taal’s sake!” Rudi said, but suddenly went quiet. He realised that his instincts had betrayed him: far from being a refuge, the looming tree line could all too quickly become a deadly trap. He raised his voice a little. “Not too far. That way’s still south.”

  In the end they compromised, and they skirted the wood at a distance that Rudi estimated was at least twice a bowshot, the stand of trees on their left was like a looming thundercloud against the shimmering night sky. As he’d hoped they made better time now. The moss was comfortably springy underfoot, and what vegetation grew there was sparse enough to avoid. Now their eyes had adjusted to the moonlight they were able to walk as fast as they would have by day.

  “Can you hear something?” Fritz asked after a while. He had stopped to gaze out over the undulating ground. Rudi shook his head.

  “Like what?” he asked. The simpleton shrugged.

  “I don’t know. Just something.” A hint of their old animosity began to surface in his voice. “You’re the outdoorsman, aren’t you?”

  “Quiet!” Hanna said, an expression of alarm flashing across her face. Rudi bit back the retort he’d been about to hurl, and strained his ears. A faint metallic sound drifted on the air, l
ike coins clinking in a purse.

  “I don’t quite…” he began, and Hanna hushed him with a gesture.

  “Horses!” she said. Rudi almost laughed.

  “Out here?” he asked. “Don’t be ridiculous.” Then the words died in his throat. Dark silhouettes began to appear over a rise in the moor, the outlines of horses and riders punched against the stars like holes in the sky. Five, ten, a dozen…

  “Get down!”

  For a moment he dared to hope that they’d escaped detection, but the leading rider spurred his mount into a trot. A voice floated to them on the wind.

  “Verber, Gessler, go with him, see what’s out there.” Two more of the riders veered off, to follow the first.

  “Make for the trees!” Rudi said. “It’s our only chance!” Horses would be useless in the tangled undergrowth, and he was sure he’d be able to evade the riders if they dismounted. With that he was up and running, heading for the safety of the wood.

  “Get away from the trees, go back to the trees…” Fritz grumbled, but he started running nevertheless. Rudi looked round for Hanna, prepared to have to urge her on, but she was following him, a pace or two behind. Over her shoulder a shout went up, and the rest of the troop followed their fellows.

  “Who are they?” she gasped, risking a quick look behind.

  “Cavalry,” Fritz replied. “From the camp.” Rudi shot him a suspicious glance, wondering how the simpleton could be so sure. Then the moonlight caught the sheen of armour; it became dazzlingly bright. He turned away to concentrate on running as hard as he could. He ignored the pain in his chest and legs, the weight of his pack, he ignored everything except the need to get away.

  For a moment he dared to think they might make it. The dark line of trees grew with every step, but the ground was shaking under his feet, and the rumble of hooves and clink of harness was loud in his ears. Abruptly the sight of the wood was cut off by the flank of a horse that had swung round ahead of him. Then there was a second, and a third.

  “Halt in the name of the Emperor!” a voice shouted, “or die where you stand!”

  Rudi stumbled to a halt, and gasped for breath. Fritz too was breathing in great whoops of air, only Hanna seemed in control.

  “Oh, thank goodness,” she said, in a voice so unlike her own that Rudi had to look to make sure her lips were moving. The confident, assertive tone had gone, to be replaced by the fluttering, squeaky intonation of some of the village girls back in Kohlstadt. “We thought you were bandits. We got lost, and…”

  “How very fortunate we happened along,” a new and familiar voice cut in. Rudi shivered and his body turned to ice as he turned. “You’re certainly a long way from Kohlstadt.”

  Gerhard looked down at him from the saddle of his sable horse, his face the only clearly discernable thing in the solid mass of darkness. He gestured to his men, and the horses closed around the fugitives like a solid wall of flesh.

  “Take them,” he said.

  Scanning, formatting and

  proofing by Flandrel,

  additional formatting and

  proofing by Undead.