[Meetings 03] - Dark Heart

by Tina Daniell - (ebook by Undead)

  Eventually they drank the jug down to the bottom. The drunken Ursa made an emphatic point of telling Kit that the reward for killing the slig would be shared equally—four hundred pieces of gold, or one hundred pieces each. He was doing his best to make up for his past transgression.

  The highland cold was harsh. Following Ursa's example, Kit pulled her blanket around her ears. As she was falling asleep Kit knew, even though she could only see his eyes, that Ursa was watching her with a roguish smile on his lips. His crooked smile was not so unlike her own.

  * * * * *

  The afternoon of the following day they rousted the slig from a tree roost along the forest edge. Colo had spotted its tracks and been stalking it since late in the morning. Kit had never seen such a thing. It was six feet tall with a horny hide of burnt-orange; a stubby tail; big, pointed ears; and a long, thin snout lined with wicked-looking fangs.

  Ursa was right; the slig's eyes were worthless, narrow slits, and this specimen had no stomach for fighting when the sun was still high in the sky. The slig loped away from them with little provocation.

  The horses could not easily pursue the slig in this densely wooded area, so they picked a spot to tie up their steeds and then proceeded on foot. The slig seemed to be toying with them, picking his way through rocks and trees, staying just barely ahead until one of them managed to catch up, then turning to take a dangerous swipe at the closest follower.

  Colo was the most nimble of the four, and she rushed ahead, leaping over bushes, pushing through thickets a short distance behind the slig. She carried a spear that she had made that very morning by lashing her best knife to a pole. Crude though it was, the spear might pierce the slig's hide. First Colo had to get close enough to throw it.

  Stopping to catch her breath on a small rise, she turned back to the others. Ursa and Kit were only minutes behind her; trailing laboriously in their wake was Droopface.

  Kitiara carried Beck's sword. Recognizing the weapon when Kit had unsheathed it earlier that day, Ursa had shared a conspiratorial smile with her.

  "Hurry up!" shouted Colo. Just as they spotted her, the diminutive warrior-woman turned on her heel and seemed to tumble forward. They heard her screaming and shouting, but could no longer see her. Kit reached the rise first, but luckily Ursa was following closely and managed to grab Kit before she too plunged into the pit trap on the other side of the slope.

  Looking down, they saw Colo at the bottom of a sharply angled, slimy hole in the ground, about fifteen or twenty feet deep. She was on her feet and staring up at them with a vexed expression.

  "Are you all right?" shouted Ursa.

  "Nothing broken," she yelled back. "But the bottom of this pit is crawling with lizards. Maybe poisonous ones. I've killed a few and the others are staying away for now, but I don't know for how long. Get me out of here!"

  Kitiara looked ahead and saw the slig, not far off, watching them. The creature opened its huge mouth and let out a bizarre, elongated, hiccupping roar, before turning to lope away.

  "It's laughing," said Ursa, touching Kit on the shoulder. "The pit trap is a joke it's played on us. Of course," he added more somberly, "it would circle back to eat her later on. Good," he said, looking up. "Cleverdon."

  Droopface had lumbered up and stood, hands on his hips, taking stock of the situation. He carried a length of strong rope, which he quickly unspooled to the bottom of the pit trap. Colo eagerly grabbed hold of it and, after some minutes of exertion by the others, was pulled to the top. When she finally emerged she was covered with mud and a thick, yellow slime.

  Cursing her own stupidity, she splashed water from her canteen all over her body and wiped herself off with strips torn from her cloak. The others waited as Colo purged herself of the slime.

  "It could have been worse," commented Ursa philosophically. "Sligs have been known to dig pit traps that go down fifty feet, and the bottoms are sometimes covered with sharpened sticks. I'd say you were lucky."

  "Funny," said Colo, finishing up as best she could, "but I don't feel lucky."

  The others bit their tongues to keep from laughing at Colo's appearance, knowing the tracker didn't think it was very amusing. They had lost precious minutes, and the slig was out of sight. Yet it didn't take long for Colo to pick up the thing's traces, and soon the four of them were again close on its trail. They took more care this time to avoid the pit traps that occasionally gaped in their path, blended into the terrain with vines and weeds.

  By late afternoon they had tired the slig out with their relentless pursuit, and the creature had done what they hoped it would, retreat to its lair, a cave that had been scooped out of a sandstone ridge behind a waterfall. The light inside was feeble, and no doubt the slig felt unconquerable there. It sat on its haunches, staring out through a curtain of water, roaring its defiance, as the four mercenaries regrouped below.

  Ursa had a plan. In his pack he had prepared a bundle of pitch-soaked branches, which he now handed over to Colo and Droopface, He announced that they would distract the slig with bright fire while he and Kitiara endeavored to get a jump on the beast and kill it.

  "Why Kitiara?" complained Colo. "I've been with you longer than she has. I have more experience."

  Kit was about to say something in her own defense, but Ursa spoke sharply. "You are clumsy with a sword," he said. "She is better. That is the only reason I picked her. Bring along your spear. You will be farther away from the slig and may get a chance to use it."

  Kit couldn't restrain a smirk of pride. Ursa turned to leave, but thought of something else. "Remember what we talked about," Ursa added to all of them, "sligs are abnormally intelligent. This one will be listening to us as we attack it, trying to guess our strategy. Speak to each other as little as possible. Talk directly to the slig instead. Distract it with speech. Confuse it with words."

  Despite herself, Kit was impressed by Colo's bravery as the female mercenary climbed the cliff face next to the waterfall and crept dangerously close to the mouth of the cave, holding a flaming branch in front of her. Colo stabbed it into the dark hole. The slig jumped out at her, roaring, but would not confront the fire. Shortly it retreated deeper into the cave.

  Droopface, ever prudent, stood on an outcropping to one side of the opening. He, too, waved his torch back and forth in circles, yelling and chanting nonstop to keep the monster's attention.

  With the slig distracted, Kit and Ursa circled, unnoticed, until they hung precariously to slippery rocks above the cave's entrance. At a signal, they dropped in. The slig wheeled on them, knocking Ursa down and opening a gash in his shoulder. His sword fell to the ground, but Ursa managed to jump up and retrieve it, then scurry to one side of the cave. Kit had retreated to the other, her back against the wall.

  The slig stood between them, its slitlike eyes darting around nervously. Nor could it forget the two humans at the mouth of the cave, waving sticks of fire and shouting at it. Smoke was filling the cave, making breathing difficult.

  "Ursa!" cried Kit, concerned.

  "I'm fine!" he shouted. Ursa was inching around toward the rear of the cave, behind the slig.

  "Awm fawm!" screamed the slig. "Awm fawm!"

  It's imitating Ursa's speech, thought Kit, even as she made her move, charging with Beck's sword held in front of her.

  As she did, the creature agilely leaped to one side, so that Kit had to stab sideways, then back far away from it. No longer could she spot Ursa, who was lost in the dark recesses of the cave. Colo, meanwhile, had crept forward on her hands and knees, holding up her burning torch.

  The creature threw the tracker a scornful glance, then focused its attention on Kitiara. Its eyes fastened on her, and she was transfixed by the feverish white pupils. Kit held her sword threateningly, but she wondered if she could make her legs move if she had to.

  Droopface shouted out a stream of words, and the slig's face twitched, his attention momentarily distracted. But before Kit could recover, the slig had turned back and once
again fixed her with its sulfurous gaze.

  "Look out!" was all Kit heard before being bowled over by Colo. As Kit tumbled head over heels, she realized that the slig had squirted a stream of its venomous spittle toward her. But Colo, pushing Kit out of the way, had been splattered instead. Now the tracker was screaming in pain and rolling over and over on the dirt floor of the cave.

  Getting to her feet unsteadily, Kit barely had time to comprehend Colo's predicament before the slig attacked. With one swipe of its great, hook-clawed arm, it knocked her hard to the ground. As she fell, Kit dropped her sword, which skittered away from her.

  Lunging toward Kit's prostrate form, the slig suddenly halted and gave a terrible yowl. It instantly whirled around, and Kit, scrambling away, saw that its short tail had been lopped off and was flopping on the ground. The slig hopped around on its hands and clawed feet, screaming in agony.

  Ursa danced around in front of it, thrusting his sword at the creature. His tawny hair was tossed back, his dark eyes glinting with determination.

  Droopface, who had sneaked onto the lip of the cave, stepped forward and heaved a big net over the creature.

  The slig threw back its head, crying out fiercely, trying to shake the net off. Droopface immediately fell back out of sight, clinging to the rock ledge. The slig seemed off balance without its tail and careened toward Ursa, making desperate but powerful swipes with its thick, muscular arms.

  Kit glanced over toward Colo, who was bunched up on the ground, shivering and moaning. Not much to be done there, not now. Kitiara scuttled toward her sword lying in the dirt and managed to grip the hilt.

  Ursa had not backed off, and Kit was impressed by his strength, his courage, his resolve. The slig made furious charges at the mercenary leader, but Ursa gave no quarter. Then the beast stumbled, and Ursa rushed in, plunging his sword deep into the slig's side. Black ichor poured out.

  The slig swung recklessly and smashed Ursa in the face. Yet the mercenary held onto his sword and, with a superhuman effort, pushed it in even deeper. As he did so, from behind them both came Kit, at a running leap, thrusting her own weapon deep into the right calve of the slig. She immediately pulled her sword out, then plunged it back into the beast's torso.

  The slig lurched backward so abruptly that Kitiara lost her grip. Swaying and falling face forward, it knocked over Ursa, pinning his right leg. Hurrying to the fray, Droopface helped Kit pull their leader out from under the dead creature.

  After a moment Ursa sat up, a shaky grin on his face. A bloody gash ran across his shoulder, and his face was bruised and raked with scratches. But he flexed his leg without much pain and managed to stand.

  Across the cave, Droopface was already tending to Colo. He had stripped off her clothes and was rubbing her body with one of his unguents. Her moaning had subsided, although every once in a while she yelped in pain. Rolling in the dirt had not been just a reflex; Colo had slowed the effects of the spittle with her actions. Kit knew, from Ursa, that a slig's venom stung like an army of bees, but if treated swiftly, could be counteracted.

  The ugly slig lay twisted and motionless in a dark pool of ichor, its stench filling Kit's nostrils. Looking down at it, she asked, somewhat breathlessly, "What now?"

  "We cut off its head to prove we killed it," said Ursa.

  They got to work with their swords, she and Ursa. It was hard slogging, for the slig's plated orange hide and corded neck muscles made it like cutting through stone. Only out of this particular stone poured a fetid black mess of blood and innards.

  After toiling at the grisly task for some time, Ursa stood up wearily, the job done. He had secured a rope around the slig's head so they could lower it from the cave without having to carry the heavy, dripping trophy.

  Kit went to Colo, who sat on a rock. Her skin was all red and blistered, and she was naked except for a coating of ointment and the blanket that Droopface had draped loosely around her.

  "Thanks," said Kit awkwardly. "If it hadn't been for you . . ."

  Ursa came over, too, and grinned down at Colo. "The pain will start to go away in a couple of hours," he said, then added, "if Cleverdon knows his stuff."

  Even under the adverse circumstances. Kit was struck by Colo's lithe, sensuous figure. The female mercenary didn't show any false modesty. Colo didn't draw the blanket any

  more tightly beneath their gaze. She looked up sulkily at both of them, settling her disgruntled face on Ursa.

  "Slime and spittle," she muttered with a curse. "It hasn't been my day."

  * * * * *

  They rigged up a crude pulley and lowered the bloody head of the slig, the size and weight of a boulder, onto the ground below the waterfall. This took some time. It was past dusk and darkness was descending swiftly. Ursa dragged the slig's head several hundred feet into a small clearing and dropped the rope.

  "We may as well camp here tonight," said the mercenary, rubbing the wound on his shoulder ruefully.

  "What about the horses?" wondered Colo, who was still draped with a blanket.

  "I'll get them," said Droopface, setting off in the direction from which they had come.

  "I'll help," volunteered Kit, starting to follow.

  Droopface waved her off and disappeared into the dark woods.

  "He'll be all right," said Ursa.

  "What about, er, that thing?" asked Kit, indicating the slig's gruesome head.

  "Oh," said Ursa, "it isn't going anywhere." With some effort he lifted the bloody trophy and stuck it on the end of a short, thick branch thrusting out of a nearby tree. It dangled there, askew, like some grotesque pumpkin-face.

  "It'll give the owls nightmares," said Colo with a shudder.

  "It'll sure keep the crows away," added Kit with a grin.

  Ursa laughed heartily. They were all exhilarated after the successful fight. Ursa whistled as he bandaged his shoulder, then started a fire. Colo was feeling better already and insisted on donning some clothes and scouting the area for food. The wild berries she brought back augmented the meatsticks that Ursa carried in his pack.

  After eating, they set to work cleaning their blades. Colo was looking for more ointment and rummaging in Droop-face's pack, which he had left behind. Kitiara had just finished wiping her sword and was wrapping it in some big, dry leaves when Ursa spoke.

  "Wonder where Cleverdon is," he said quietly. "He's been gone pretty long."

  Before one of them could answer, a voice rang out in the woods and furtive noises encircled them.

  "Stand where you are," said the voice.

  Kit noticed that the small clearing had been invaded by a dank mist seeping in from the perimeter, billowing and growing in size. Out of the mist stepped a dozen men, two or three in ordinary tunics, the others elaborately armored from head to toe. These dozen said nothing, just stood there, shifting their weight. The armored ones wore flat-topped helmets with small eye slits and breathing holes. They were weighted down with an array of weapons, including ornate maces and battle-axes, as well as more conventional crossbows, shields, daggers, and swords.

  Ursa made a move toward his sword, which was propped against a rock, but as he did so several nets flew out of the mist and wound themselves around him. They fell about him so tightly that he lost balance and toppled over into the dirt.

  Two of the armored men clanked forward and hoisted Ursa between them. He could barely move, much less put up a fight. Kit struggled against her impulse to try to help him. Before he was gagged with a strip of leather Ursa managed to shout out, "Forget me! Save yourselves!" His face was taut and pale with fear.

  A pair of the other men marched forward and grabbed Kitiara and Colo, tying them together with their backs to each other. Colo struggled and kicked, but all she got for her efforts was a hard jab in the side. Kit's mind was racing, trying to think—who were these new foes? What could she do to break free?

  The guard closest to Kit was so thoroughly shrouded in steel that she could not tell if what lay underneath the metal
was human or spirit. The one watching over Colo was not armored and looked more commonplace—a burly, bearded peasant with a chiseled face and glowering eyes.

  Now Kit saw that three other men had materialized from the mist to join the original group. They were the leaders of this business, she realized. Two were elves, or half-elves, Kit guessed by how they held themselves, while the third was a dark-robed mage who stood apart from the others, his eyes glowing with concentration, lips moving, hands fluttering.

  "No. Untie the black-haired one. She comes with us," said one of the elves, pointing to Kitiara. "Kill the other."

  "What is her connection?" asked the other elf.

  "She had the sword," said the first elf. "Let her answer for it."

  He stepped forward, his eyes sweeping the area. Beck's sword, newly wrapped in leaves, lay at Kit's feet. In the darkness it was camouflaged. The elf, frowning and taking a step forward, did not see it.

  Kit got a good look at him. It was the dark elf who had been watching her on board the Silver Gar. Somehow he had picked up her trail and followed her. But why?

  "We must find it," the dark elf said tersely.

  The mist surrounding them was now so thick that Kit could no longer see more than a dozen yards ahead of her. She could hear Ursa grunt as he was dragged to his feet. Colo whispered at her back.

  "Get ready!"

  Ready for what?

  The peasant guarding Colo drew his curved dagger.

  The mist was almost suffocating. But something more, it began to pulse and swirl, and then to swirl faster, creating a wind that whirled at terrific speed. A low, almost whining noise built to a din and then into a deafening roar. A roar so horrendous that Kit's one thought was not to escape but to break her bonds and clasp her hands over her ears. Leaves and branches broke off and flew past her. Debris whacked her in the face.

  Through it all, strangely, she heard the low murmuring of the mage.

  Kit felt her feet lifted off the ground by the force of a powerful current. She heard someone's sharp groan, then the sound of a body hitting the ground. "Now!" Colo shouted in her ear.