Dark Soul Silenced - Part Two

by Simon Goodson

  Breakfast was watery porridge. All too soon they were forced to mount up again, then tied to their mounts. Nathan prepared for another long, painful day.

  The day was even more painful than Nathan had feared. Muscles that had grown tight overnight were stretched and torn. Staying atop the horse became more and more difficult. Several times Nathan half fell off, only the fact his legs were tied to the saddle saving him from hitting the ground. The first two times he managed to drag himself back upright. The third he hadn’t the strength. Eventually one of the guards righted Nathan, laughing as he did so.

  As on the previous day, they kept going till late evening before making camp. Nathan was as exhausted as the night before. Once they had eaten and were given blankets all he wanted to do was sleep. Something stopped him though. All day his thoughts had kept returning to the previous night, even through the worst of the pain. The feeling that something didn’t add up had grown stronger and stronger. Now he made certain he was laying in a position where he could see his three men as they slept and settled down to wait. If something happened to one of them, if some dark power destroyed their will, then maybe he could shout a warning in time for the guards to stop them. Even if it meant the guards killing whoever was so possessed it would be a better fate than what lay waiting in the dark.

  Time passed without anything happening. Occasionally a guard would wander past, or those watching over Nathan and the others would change, but nothing else happened. Nathan found it harder and harder to fight against sleep. Several times he felt himself slipping off and managed to drag himself awake. He had stood many night watches in his time, but few when he was so tired and none where he had to lay on the floor faking sleep.

  He had almost lost his battle, was drifting into sleep, when movement snapped him fully awake. He tensed for a moment then realised it was just a guard checking on William and the others. He relaxed… then tensed again. Another guard approached William’s sleeping form. Then another three. Something was very wrong. Nathan held still, waiting to see what would happen.

  He didn’t have long to wait. Four of the men arranged themselves by William’s arms and legs. The fifth knelt by the sleeping man’s head and grabbed his chin, opening William’s mouth and stuffing a rag in. William woke with a choked off cry that Nathan could barely hear. The other four men grabbed him by the arms and legs and started to quickly carry him away.

  Nathan had seen enough. He jumped to his feet and bellowed at them.

  “What in hells name are you doing? Put him down right now!”

  He had the pitch of command just right. Three of the guards let go of William, though the other kept hold of a leg. William dropped to the floor and dragged the cloth out of his mouth. Bruno and Thomas woke with a start and quickly climbed to their feet, dropping into fighting stances.

  For a moment longer everyone stood frozen. Then the guards realised who had shouted. Other guards raced over, swords drawn. Soon Nathan and the others were surrounded by a ring of armed men. Escape was out of the question. So was fighting. If they tried either they’d be cut down in a moment. William was outside of the ring of armed men but was being held by two guards. He simply looked confused, unable to understand what was happening. Nathan didn’t understand either.

  “So you aren’t quite as stupid as I thought,” the Major said as he approached. The guards made space for him and he stood at the edge of the circle of armed men. “I am almost impressed.”

  His tone was light, bantering. In contrast Nathan was almost quivering with rage.

  “Is this what happened to Cal?” he demanded. “Your men took him didn’t they? I knew he wasn’t faking it. There’s no way he could have walked, let alone run.”

  “Very good. And do you know why we did that? Why we were taking this man tonight?”

  “My god. You threw him out there didn’t you? You dumped him in the darkness. You took him there to die. You would have done the same with William.”

  “Indeed. And why would we do that?”

  “Other than the fact you’re a deranged slave of the darkness?”

  The words escaped before Nathan could stop them. Many of the guards tensed, ready to rush forward and strike him down. For a moment the Major’s face darkened with fury, then he regained control. He gestured at the guards to hold back.

  “Now I’m disappointed.” Some of the banter was back but there was a hard edge to his voice now. “Maybe you aren’t as clever as I thought. Shall we find out? I will spare your man, let him stay with you tonight, if you can tell me why. You have one chance. Think carefully, but don’t take too long. My patience is wearing thin.”

  Nathan reigned in his anger. The desire to lash out at the Major again burned strongly, but he knew that would doom William. He thought frantically for a few moments, then the answer hit him. The answer was obvious.

  “Bait. You used Cal as bait. Bait to catch a night walker.”

  “Or more than one. Very good. It seems your man will live.”

  Now Nathan was furious again, far too angry to hold his tongue.

  “You monster! How could you leave a man to his death like that?”

  Now the Major lost his temper. “Easily!” he bellowed. “To kill a single one of those creatures I would gladly sacrifice you and all your men. You are useless to us. Worse than useless, you actively threaten everything we stand for with your weakness and stupidity.”

  “Did it work? Did you kill the night walker at least?”

  “No. It was too clever to be trapped. It dragged him off before making the kill.”

  “And you’re going to sacrifice another life tonight just to see the same thing happen?”

  “It might not! That night walker might be sated. If another comes for our bait then we may kill them.”

  The Major paused, visibly calming himself. He turned to a guard next to him and gave an order that Nathan didn’t here. The guard nodded and moved forwards, calling out orders. He turned to Nathan and the others.

  “On the ground, on your front!”

  Nathan reluctantly did as he was told, the others did too. William was brought over and flung to the ground. Guards approached and tied Nathan’s wrists behind him, then his legs together. Nathan managed to see enough to see the others suffered the same treatment.

  “Sit them up,” ordered the Major.

  Nathan was dragged up into a sitting position, as were the others.

  “Him,” the Major said, pointing at Thomas.

  Several guards grabbed Thomas, lifted him off the ground and started to carry him away. Thomas started to thrash in their grasp but it did no good.

  “No!” Nathan shouted. “What are you doing?”

  “We need bait in our trap,” the Major answered coldly. “I spared your man, as I promised, so we had to choose another. If you try to interfere then you and the rest of your men will join him.”

  Nathan stared after Thomas, feeling sick to his stomach. Nathan still saw his struggling form even once darkness hid Thomas from sight. A short period of quiet was broken by the sound Nathan had dreaded hearing, a cry of terror and pain that echoed out of the darkness before it was abruptly cut off. There were no further screams or cries. No matter how hard he strained Nathan heard no sounds of a fight after that. The night walker had struck and escaped with the bait once more. Nathan stared out into the darkness with an aching emptiness inside.

  Part Five - Echtberg

  Chapter Nineteen

  Daniel stood hidden within a thick bush at the edge of the forest, studying the town of Echtberg. Sarah stood beside him, also staring at the town. Their journey had been both fast and uneventful. Each night for three nights Daniel had woven a protective net of power which he hoped would hide them from vampires, and any other creatures of darkness. Either there had been none around or it had worked, nothing had disturbed their sleep.

  During the day they had seen a handful of people, and avoided being seen by all but one of those — an elderly hunter who had st
epped onto the path during one of the brief periods when Sarah was walking. He had bid them good morning, his eyes shining with curiosity. Daniel had merely returned the greeting and kept walking.

  They had reached Echtberg that morning, maybe half an hour after eating a quick breakfast. Now they studied the town from afar. When they first arrived the town had been locked up, all gates closed and troops manning the walls. From what Daniel could see the town was enclosed by a square stone wall, twenty feet tall at least and with a large number of guards patrolling the top.

  Daniel could see two sides of the town from where he stood. A gate stood in the centre of each. Both gates had opened not long before and a long stream of people, carts, donkeys and horses streamed out of each. No one was approaching the town seeking to enter.

  “It doesn’t make sense,” Sarah said. “Surely someone must want to enter the town.”

  “Maybe it was market day yesterday and everyone is leaving,” Daniel replied. “Though that does not feel right. Such a big town should have people coming and going every day.”

  They studied the flow of people for a few minutes longer before Daniel smiled.

  “Of course. We know the reason, but we are not from these lands. We do not think as they do.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “We are used to people arriving early to a town, seeking to trade and then leaving before the day is over. Seeking to avoid paying for expensive lodgings and stables. Many will happily sleep in their carts or at the roadside. Things are very different here. Danger stalks the night. No one will travel at night, or sleep outside.”

  “Of course! The people leaving now are making sure they get home well before nightfall.”

  “Or to their next safe stop, yes. Even those who have a relatively short distance to go will leave early. A broken wheel or twisted ankle could make a short journey much longer.”

  “So if we wait long enough then people will start to arrive?”

  “I believe so. In fact it must happen. Otherwise the town would soon be empty with this many leaving each day. We should see a large flow of people around midday. We will try to enter the town then. The numbers will tail off during the afternoon. Only those who are desperate, or were delayed somehow, will still be travelling as evening approaches.”

  “So we just wait?”

  “No. I want to move around, study the other two walls. I expect they too will have a single gateway. We need to find out which is the busiest. That is the direction to approach from. We want to be just two more travellers amongst many. Not worthy of any further attention.”

  “We just walk straight in then?”

  “Yes. I think the simplest plan is the best. We must be well ahead of those who tried to capture us. The guards here will not be looking for us. We simply have to pass through, answer any questions they ask and keep our nerve.”

  “It’s not my nerve that I need to keep. Those guards are from the Bronze Order, I can tell that from here. It’s my anger I need to keep checked. They killed Jon. I will never forgive them for that.”

  “I know. Focus on Mary though. We have to get past them to reach her. Do you think you can do that?”

  “Yes. For Mary I can do anything. What about you though? What if they use one of those orbs that detects magical power?”

  “It seems unlikely. The orbs can only be used for a short time each day, a few minutes at most. The chances of them using it on us are very low. If by bad luck they do then I will grab you and run from the city. They will be unable to catch us.”

  “If you’re sure…”

  “I am. Now, we should see how the other gates look.”

  The other two walls did have gates, and a similar flow of people leaving — though the north gate had significantly fewer. They decided to approach from south of the town. They circled back towards the south, still staying within the cover of the forest. Once in position they decided against stepping out in view of the town, which might lead to awkward questions about where they had come from. Instead they moved away from town, shadowing the path for several hundred yards before settling down to wait. Once the exodus had slowed greatly and been replaced by enough people travelling back towards town they stepped from the forest onto the path. People and wagons spread away from the town as far as Sarah could see.

  Sarah felt extremely exposed as they stepped out. What would people think of them? The answer was not what she had worried it would be, but she wasn’t happy about it. Noting the leaves and dirt on their clothes people assumed she and Daniel had stepped off the path to misbehave. Several called out approvingly to Daniel, or crudely to Sarah. Her cheeks flamed at one man’s words, from anger as much as embarrassment. Losing Jon was still a raw wound. She felt her hand straying towards her sword.

  “Sarah… remember Mary.” Daniel said softly. “I know this is difficult for you, but it stops those people asking questions about us — and more importantly mentioning our sudden appearance to the guards. If we walk quickly we can leave most of them behind. They will just think you want to get away from those who know what we were doing.”

  “All right, but I’ll be imagining stamping on their faces every step of the way.”

  Daniel grinned. “By all means.”

  They moved off more quickly. This resulted in more shouts from behind for a short while, but soon enough they stopped. The people Sarah and Daniel now passed hadn’t seen them appear and passed no comments. Even their haste wasn’t unusual, several other groups were moving as quickly.

  The people they passed were friendly enough, if somewhat guarded. Most offered greetings, though a few simply ignored them. As Daniel had expected the flow of people leaving Echtberg had fallen to almost nothing. Anyone leaving the town had done so long before where possible. The few stragglers moved as fast as they could, worried looks on their faces.

  Then Sarah and Daniel cleared the forest and started to cross open ground. The land for several hundred yards around the town was well grazed. Sarah had seen several small herds of sheep and cows when they scouted around the town earlier, all closely watched. Despite the stream of people in front of and behind them she felt horribly exposed. If the Bronze Order somehow knew where they were then even Daniel’s speed might not be enough to get them clear. In the forest he could easily leave riders behind, out on the open plain it was a different matter.

  Despite Sarah’s worries nothing happened. Soon they were standing at the back of a long queue, waiting their turn to enter the town. The line moved in fits and starts, stalling for a while then moving forwards rapidly.

  Worry started to gnaw at Sarah’s stomach. What if they were caught? To have come so close and fail would be terrible. What if there was some local custom or piece of knowledge that they lacked, something that would immediately mark them as outsiders?

  The wait felt as if it went on forever, yet it was still over far too quickly for Sarah. When they reached the head of the queue, with just a horse-drawn cart piled with goods and a couple of families in front of them, her heart started to hammer and she felt faint. Daniel must have noticed. He took her hand, squeezing it gently.

  “Remember Mary,” he said. “You can do this Sarah. I know you can.”

  The thought of Mary steadied her. Daniel was right. She could do this. Taking a deep breath she squeezed his hand back. He smiled at her but kept hold of her hand. She was glad. She needed all the strength she could get.

  And then the cart was moving, and they had no choice but to follow. The cart had blocked any sight of what came next, and it only just made it through the gate entrance. Sarah and Daniel followed it into a tunnel that seemed particularly dark after the bright daylight outside. The tunnel was brick built with a stone floor. The arched ceiling above was maybe three times Sarah’s height, making the tunnel taller than it was broad.

  The cart in front came to an abrupt halt. Daniel and Sarah were jostled from behind as more people piled into the tunnel. Sarah glanced behind and found there were no carts,
only people. That allowed her to see the guards push a few stragglers into the tunnel just before a large, heavy portcullis dropped down cutting off any chance of escape. Panicked she turned towards Daniel. He smiled reassuringly and squeezed her hand again.

  “I hate this bit,” someone behind muttered.

  “What’s going on?” asked someone else, sounding nervous.

  “Magic test,” replied the first voice, louder this time. “There’s another gate in front of us. They’ll raise that then we get to walk past some sort of stone that’s sensitive to magic. Only as far as another part of the tunnel that’s sealed off with another gate. If everyone passes the test then they open the gate and we all walk into the city.”

  “What happens if it detects magic?” Now there was fear in the voice of the first timer.

  “That’s bad,” came the reply, the speaker clearly relishing telling his story. “You have to hope whoever it is surrenders. There’s a side passage, all safely barred off. The dark magic user has to stand by it, let themselves be secured to the bars, then the rest of us get let out.”

  “And if they don’t surrender?”

  “Then the guards won’t let anyone out till the magic user is dead. Look up. There’s holes in the ceiling. That’s for boiling oil. And the guards behind the barred off area all have crossbows. If those don’t work they have other weapons… but you won’t care. Even if the magic user survives the oil and crossbow bolts, we sure as hell won’t.”

  “Does it happen often?”

  “No, don’t you worry.” The speaker laughed heartily. “I’ve been coming here for years and I only know of it happening a handful of times, where someone’s resisted at least. I’ve heard of plenty where the magic user gives themselves up. Even been in with them a couple of times. Sure it scares the life out of you, but afterwards your tale will get you free beers for a month.”

  Sarah glanced at Daniel. He still didn’t look concerned. Meeting her eyes he shook his head slightly.