by Alexey Pehov
While Ga-Nor and Shen dealt with them, I kept my eyes on the stairs, from which at any moment we might have to welcome new guests. Meanwhile, a short skirmish took place behind me. The nimble northerner dealt with his opponents with such speed that he didn’t even require the Healer’s help.
“Done!” I heard the Son of the Snow Leopard say, and I began to retreat.
“Layen, open up, it’s us!” Shen banged on the door. “Layen! Open up!”
From below came the sound of wheezing and stomping feet. The first corpse practically flew up to the floor. My arrow pierced it right in the eye, causing it to fall backward and tumble down the stairs.
Ga-Nor appeared next to me and under his protection I felt much more sure of myself.
“If they don’t open the door for us, we’re lost,” he said calmly, but his voice did not deceive me. Our situation really was rotten. Nine undead were already coming toward us. The same amount followed behind them. Even if we hacked our way back to the other room, we wouldn’t get there whole.
“Layen!” I shouted as loudly as I could, drawing a new arrow. “Open up!”
The bolt snapped open immediately.
Smart girl!
“Oh, Melot! You’re alive!” I heard the voice of my sun. “Faster! Faster!”
Yet another of the hunters of my living flesh fell with an arrow in his pupil. Then I turned around, jumped into the room right behind Shen, and immediately drew back to the wall to let Ga-Nor in. Layen slammed the door shut and put the bolt back in place.
“Finally!” said the Healer. “You dithered about long enough!”
“I see no reason why I should have let you in,” she replied coldly, and then she walked over to me and hugged me fiercely.
“I was beginning to fear that you would not be saved.”
“All is well,” I whispered. “We’re okay.”
“Would you really have left us outside?” Ga-Nor frowned.
“Don’t be silly, friend.” Despite his pallor, Luk had lost none of his talkativeness. “It’s just that we didn’t believe our ears at first. Help me. We need to move this cabinet back in front of the door. Just in case.”
Wheezing and blows could be heard from the other side of the door. There were a great deal more of them after our souls now. I was seriously beginning to fear that the door would not hold.
“Is there anything to drink?” After the short flight my throat was completely dry.
“I can only offer you reska, but I doubt that would be of any use to us.”
Only now did I notice Gis.
The courier was sitting cross-legged on the floor like an easterner, wrapped in his battered cloak. Next to him lay a broadsword in a worn burgundy sheath, and a gray-green saddle bag.
“How did you get in here?”
“I was in the hallway when the undead appeared. I jumped into the nearest room and locked the door. Turns out, my lady and Luk were already here.”
“Yes, indeed,” confirmed the puffing soldier, who was dragging the cabinet with Ga-Nor. “If not for the courier, we wouldn’t have known anything, screw a toad. The door was wide open.”
“I wonder what’s happening,” I asked Layen quietly.
“I’d like to know myself. It would require tremendous strength to raise so many of the dead.”
“Something like this has happened before.” Gis, as it turned out, was not at all averse to talking. “Just very long ago. They say that when a very strong Walker dies, it rains heavily. So it was when Sorita died, for example.”
“What is the connection?” Layen did not understand.
“When the bearer of a very strong Gift dies a violent death, after her departure a fraction of the magic does not disappear, but disperses into the world. It calls down the rain.”
“So what are the dead here for?” asked Luk sulkily. “What are they, like mushrooms creeping out of the ground after a rain?”
“They say that when Cholera and Delirium died during the War of the Necromancers, for the entire next month, here and there, all over the lands of the Empire, entire cemeteries were raised.”
“Do you mean to say that when the Walkers die, it rains, but when the Damned do, the dead rise?” Shen guessed.
“So the old legends say.” Gis shrugged. “However, there is a small discrepancy—none of the Sextet have been killed in the last five hundred years.”
I immediately thought of the woman we disposed of in Dog Green. It appears Gis was right.
“How do you know about all of this?”
“Old tales, my lady. When you travel your whole life, you learn a lot. Sometimes it is useful.”
“And do the tales say when the dead will wander back to their graves?” asked Luk hopefully.
“Unfortunately, they do not. Just that it happened in various places and then subsided. Well, and that the Walkers no doubt helped.”
“Well, we can’t put our hopes in the Walkers,” I said sharply. “We’ll have to handle it on our own. Here’s what I want to suggest.…”
* * *
“Careful. Don’t make a noise,” hissed Shen.
“I’m trying, screw a toad.” Luk was clearly having a hard time keeping his voice down.
As I had hoped, the gates leading from the street into the inner courtyard, where the outbuildings and stables were located, were closed. Of course, someone was banging on them, but not too strenuously and for the time being unsuccessfully.
Without much difficulty at all, we had crept out the window and climbed down the chimney, which was not too high. While the Healer helped the soldier down, the rest of us did what we had agreed to earlier. I covered Ga-Nor, who was fortifying the door that led into the inn. It wouldn’t be good if we were caught unawares and lost our souls. Layen and Gis went to the stables. I hoped there would be enough horses for all of us. Otherwise things might get a bit unpleasant. I really didn’t want to leave anyone behind. Not even the Healer.
“It’s done,” said Ga-Nor as he returned. “I’m not sure it won’t be torn down if they all press against it.”
“I’ll try to be very far away by then. Luk, you all right?”
“I’ve never understood people who creep into other people’s houses through the windows.” He panted, trying to catch his breath. “Same with creeping out, mind you.”
“You just haven’t got a taste for it.”
Contrary to my expectations, he smiled and winked.
Gis ran up to us. “I need help saddling the horses. It’ll take too long with just the two of us.”
“Are there enough horses for all?” I asked with a transfixed heart.
“Yes.”
“Then let’s get going.”
The animals could sense the dead, and they were in a sweat and trembling lightly all over, but thank Melot they obeyed us. I got a black, barrel-chested monster that I immediately dubbed Stallion. The beast was calmer than the others, and this inspired confidence in me that I might actually remain seated on his back.
“Now what?” Layen asked the question that had been disturbing me.
“We must open the gates.”
“Brilliant, Luk! Can you do it?”
“I’m not so sure.” He licked his lips nervously. “Will you help us, Layen?”
“Me?”
“You know you can do it.” The soldier looked at her pleadingly. “Can’t a Walker clobber them with a spell?”
I saw Gis’s eyebrows go up.
“Who told you that I’m a Walker?” she asked, astonished.
“Well, or an Ember. Ga-Nor and I saw you send that hurricane at the Burnt Souls.”
Oh dear! Turned out our friends knew far more than we thought.
“You’re mistaken,” said Layen unexpectedly gently. “Unfortunately, I’m neither a Walker nor even an Ember. And there is no way I can help us. Do you think if there were anything I could do, we’d still be sitting here?”
“I think—” Shen began, but I cut him off.
I began speaking with the utmost conviction and composure. “The gates must be opened. I will do it. But if there are far too many of the dead there; they’ll pin us down and devour us right here. Along with the horses. They’ll let none escape. We need to divert their attention. I think we should divide into two groups and make our way to the city gates separately and by different paths. The first group will distract the ones trying to break in here. I hope that the creatures will chase after them. They’re not very smart.”
“The ones who gallop off first are risking a lot.” Gis thoughtfully stroked the face of his mare. “But it must be done. I’m with you, lad, and you’re lucky I know this little town so well. I’ll be able to lead you out.”
“I’m also with you,” volunteered Layen.
“No.”
“But—”
“No!” I interrupted. “You will be with Ga-Nor, Shen, and Luk. We’re not discussing this.”
My sun’s eyes flashed wickedly and she clenched her teeth in rage.
“I’ll go with you and Gis,” said the Healer unexpectedly. “You’ll need help.”
I hadn’t expected him to be so resolved.
“Good. That’s what we’ll do. Let’s not delay any longer.”
“Ness. We need to talk,” Layen called out to me.
We waited until the others had left the stable.
“What are you doing?” An entire lake of resentment lapped against the shores of her blue eyes.
“I’m trying to save your life. Don’t interrupt! Listen! You’ll be in greater danger with me than with them. Right now, Ga-Nor is more reliable than I am. And Luk, despite his frivolity, is not a man to mess with. I alone cannot defend you. Neither Gis nor Shen would be of any help, but only a burden. With the soldiers you have a chance to escape.”
“And what about you?” The corners of her lips fell down as she looked at the floor. “Do you have any chance?”
“I do. But you can’t be there.” I spoke the harsh truth. “Alone I will fly faster than the wind and defend only myself, without being distracted by anyone else. If you go with me and something happens, I can’t leave you. As a result, we’ll stay lost in this damned town forever.”
She knew it was so and understood that what I was suggesting would help us both to live.
“You’re right, even though I don’t like it.” She turned away, hiding her tears. “All I ask of you is that you don’t stop if the courier or the Healer need help. Recall the rule of the Giiyans.”
“I don’t intend to stop.” I hugged her. “Every man for himself. Everything will be fine. Keep close to the redhead. He won’t let you come to harm. Just get out. I’ll get out, too.”
“Hey, are you asleep in there?” An agitated Luk appeared. “It’s time. It’ll be dawn soon.”
“Let’s go,” I said, and then I kissed my wife and broke our embrace. “Be careful.”
“And you. Try to survive.”
“I’ll put all my efforts toward it.” I laughed. “Hey! Don’t be sad. Everything will be fine. You don’t really think I’d leave you for long, do you? If everything works out, we’ll meet outside the town gates.”
“And if it doesn’t? If something happens to you?”
I sighed. “We’ve gotten out of worse scrapes.”
“I had the Gift then. Right now I’m a helpless infant.”
“That’s why I want you to stay close to the northerner. You know that tribe.… But if I don’t manage to get out, don’t wait for me and don’t look for me. Go immediately to Al’sgara. We’ll meet at Nag and Leech’s place. If I haven’t appeared within a week after you arrive, take the money and sail to the Golden Mark. To Harog. Don’t wait for anything.”
“You’ll find me?”
“Of course. Wherever you may be.”
“Take care of yourself, Gray.”
“Take care of yourself, Weasel. Everything will be fine.”
We exited the stable side by side, leading our horses. Ga-Nor and Luk were already in their saddles. Layen touched her lips to my cheek one last time and went to them. I walked over to Gis and Shen, who were already standing by the gates. I gave Stallion into their care.
“I’ll be quick.”
“We have no time!”
“Wait! Damn you to the Abyss!”
They stopped arguing. I had one more unfinished piece of business. I needed to say something to the northerner. Seeing me walking toward him, he jumped off his horse. Tall, sinewy, morose. As reliable as a wall.
“As soon as we jump out, act, and no matter what happens, don’t pay us any attention. We’ll deal with it on our own.”
He nodded. “Good luck.”
“You too. Take care of my wife.”
“Don’t worry. Unlike Giiyans, my people have different rules. We don’t leave our own behind.”
“You really do have excellent hearing.” I chuckled.
For the time being I decided to forget about what else he might have heard.
“I can’t complain.” He was serious.
“If anything happens to her, it would be better for you if you died, too. Or else I’ll get to you, even from the Abyss. Do we understand each other?”
He looked into my eyes for a long moment and then gave a slight nod. “I’ll bring her through.”
Without saying another word, the redhead returned to his saddle. An amazing people, the northerners. They know that some people are complete bastards, but if they consider them their own, they’ll help them even to their own detriment. I could only be thankful for the fate that sent such a man to Layen and me.
I ran to the gate, which was shaking from blows. The latch was heavy, but I managed to lift it up in one motion. I kicked the halves open and dashed back, leaping into my saddle.
The halves separated, and the first of the dead began to stumble into the courtyard. I shouted and drove the heels of my boots into my horse’s sides.
The length of the courtyard allowed the horses to get enough speed for a respectable trot. Stallion was the first to crash into the corpses, scattering those who were hesitating with his broad chest and crushing a few others beneath his hooves. The scent of fresh blood and stupefying decay hit my nose. Grinning faces and glowing eyes flashed and then disappeared.
We broke through and rode down the dark street. The hunters of human flesh rushed behind us, empty-handed. I hoped that Ga-Nor, Layen, and Luk got out without any problems. I clung to the neck of my horse and didn’t even have to urge him on. The animal wanted to get as far away as possible from the dead.
Gis’s mare turned out to be a swift horse, and now the courier was galloping ahead, showing us the way. I remembered very little of this mad gallop. Impenetrable darkness, the rustling of shadows, dark silhouettes with green eyes, the blaze of fires that arose from who knows where. Three times our path was blocked, and three times we broke through. The last time, a corpse managed to cling to the courier’s stirrup, but he slashed at the undead with his broadsword.
When Gis suddenly reined in his horse, I saw that the street in front of us was blocked. A whole crowd of the dead was swarming around a house. Apparently, someone was still alive in there. One of the corpses saw us and rushed forward, forgetting all about the prey cowering behind the walls. After him came another three, and then the entire crowd swayed and began moving.
“Follow me!” Gis guided his horse into an alley.
I was afraid that Stallion would stumble and I’d come to my end right here, but Melot spared me. The wide-open city gates and a small torch-lit square appeared in front of us. Three riders on foaming horses flew out of a neighboring street, pursued by a few dozen undead. They didn’t look around and so they didn’t see us galloping toward the gates from the other side of the square. After a few seconds the people swept through the square and escaped from the town. My heart instantly became lighter. Layen had escaped the deadly trap. The dead didn’t even bother to give chase. The creatures rushed at us instead.
“Damn it
!” Gis tugged at his reins, causing his horse to rear up on its hind legs. “We won’t get clear!”
He was right. The dead had completely blocked off the exit. I doubt we’d be able to break through even at a full gallop. In such a crowd the horses would lose their way and that would mean our death. We couldn’t hold out against so many adversaries.
“Is there another way out?” Shen was breathing as hard as his horse.
“Yes. Follow me!”
And again we had to zigzag through the streets to get away from the creatures that I no longer had the heart to call human. At one point I caught myself thinking that I’d ceased being afraid of them. It always happens when you’re afraid for too long. The fear burns itself out. There is a surfeit of fear. You no longer feel anything except for dull fatigue. I know how my words sound from the outside—far too casual. But you can get accustomed to anything. Even to throngs of the dead.
It seemed like we had ridden right through Bald Hollow. We took off into a dark lane, rode to the end without encountering anyone, and found ourselves in a large square that served as the local market.
The courier reined in his horse and began looking around.
“Where to now?” I asked.
“Quiet. Let me think.”
The sky was already getting light. Thin threads of mist glistened like silver in between the vacant wooden rows of the market stalls. The horses snorted and stepped from foot to foot.
“The river is close,” whispered Shen.
“So is the cemetery,” spat Gis. “We didn’t come out where I expected.”
“There’s no point in worrying. All the inhabitants of the cemetery are in the town now. And leaving by the river would give us a real chance of getting out of this pit.”
“Let’s try to avoid swimming. There’s a way through a field not far from here.” The courier urged his horse forward. “Follow me!”
I could have argued and risked going on alone, but I didn’t. The courier clearly knew where he was going. Not to mention that it was more likely we’d survive if we stuck together.
Back to the streets, back to the crowds of the undead. We raced on, paying no attention to anything. I followed immediately after the courier, and Shen was behind me. Sometimes we had to cut our way through. In these instances the might of the horses and Shen’s skeem helped. Fate took care of me; I did not fall, and no one pulled me off my horse or even grabbed at me. I don’t know who owned Stallion before, but he was a fine steed. If I survive, I’ll buy him a whole bag of oats. And I won’t begrudge him.
