Sabre snatched up the little monster and pulled it free, hurling it into the trees as he dumped her onto the ground and jumped up. Purr sneezed explosively and sprouted fangs and claws, with which he attacked the nearest vampire children. They swarmed over Tassin, biting her, and she slashed at them with her dagger, sickened when it sank into soft flesh. Sabre laid about him with his fists and knife, striving to protect her and beat off the creatures that clung to his legs, biting ferociously. A mob of the things engulfed Purr, and blood sprayed as he fought them in a seething melee from which a vampire toddler was tossed every now and then, broken and bloody. Sabre stood over Tassin and smashed the monsters away as more and more of them poured out of the forest.
Brown and green shot through the ground, and the world Changed. Sabre scooped Tassin up as an eerie world of ruins replaced the trees and vampire children, striding through the Change. The mosscat sneezed and leapt onto a crumbling wall, looking bedraggled and cross. A ruined city surrounded them. Smashed marble tiles, mortar and fallen columns were mixed with the piles of rubble. Pot shards, broken china and rusted implements lay strewn on cracked paving stones.
Sabre placed her on a wall and gazed around, taking stock of the new world. Several painful bites throbbed on her legs, bottom and arms, and blood trickled from numerous puncture wounds in Sabre's legs and torso. Purr seemed unscathed, apart from his ruffled fur.
Sabre turned to her. "Are you okay?"
"My face hurts, and I have lots of bites, but otherwise I'm well enough."
He nodded, scanning the surroundings again. "We were lucky it Changed. I think those little fiends would have done a lot of damage if it hadn't."
Purr said, "Beasts. They were dangerous. Many foes, no matter how weak, are always more dangerous than one."
"At least this place looks uninhabited, and we can travel easily enough."
After tending to their wounds with Sabre's ointment, they set off across the ruined world, picking their way through the debris. Tassin hobbled, her buttocks smarting from the bites, and her stomach rumbled. The fruit she had eaten in the previous Flux-reality had remained in that realm. The new world appeared to be devoid of life; not even a blade of grass struggled amongst the ruins.
"If we see any creatures here, they must be Real-reality," Purr commented. "I don't think anything lives in this world."
Tassin limped beside Sabre for hours, finding no end to the ruins as they followed broad roads that ran in the direction in which they wished to travel. When they stopped to rest, Tassin fingered her throbbing nose, and Sabre smiled.
"You'll look like Purr soon."
"What do you mean?"
"You're going to have two lovely black eyes."
She glanced at the mosscat, who chuckled. Shrugging, she sipped some water. "Honourable war wounds."
The ruined world remained until its sun sank over the horizon, and they experienced night in Flux-reality for the first time. Tassin assumed that this could only occur when Flux-reality and Real-reality shared a night, then neither sun shone.
Finding a semi-intact building, they settled down to sleep, unable to locate any Real-reality. Purr took first watch, and sat in the doorway while Tassin and Sabre stretched out on the bedding. Sabre placed his bedroll well away from the Queen's, and she eyed him, wishing it was cold.
Ever since he had woken in the cave, and even before that, she had experienced an undeniable attraction to him, something that had annoyed and embarrassed her. At first, she had dismissed it as a passing fancy, especially since he clearly did not share her interest. It had continued to burgeon, however, and now was too strong to be denied or ignored. Their enforced intimacy during the snowstorm had reinforced it, and she longed to be close to him again. The fact that he kept rescuing and taking care of her made it worse, too.
Never had she been so attracted to a man, nor had a man ever been so impervious to her charms, and she wondered at the reason for his aloofness. It made her somewhat resentful, and she resolved to make him notice her.
A gentle shaking roused her, and she opened her eyes. Sabre leant over her, the brow band flashing in the darkness.
"Get up," he whispered. "Something's outside."
Purr crouched in the doorway, and from without came the faint rustling that had alarmed them. Tassin crept to the door with Sabre and peered out, her heart hammering. Two orange moons glared down like baleful eyes, bathing the ruins in dull light. They waited as the rustling grew louder, accompanied by scraping sounds, and all three craned to peer around the wall as a greenish glow appeared at the end of the street. A worm the size of four heavy trade wagons stacked two deep rounded the corner, moving with the humping gait of a caterpillar. Its armour-plated head was armed with scissor jaws of pale chitin, and dozens of stumpy legs dragged its bulk along.
"Flux-reality or Real-reality?" Sabre asked.
Purr shrugged. "Makes no difference anymore."
"It looks like the same one I saw in the mushroom world."
"Could be. Not many Real-reality monsters venture this deep into Flux-reality. It's dangerous for them too, especially something as big as that."
"That thing doesn't look like it's over-burdened with brains."
The monster drew nearer, its blind head seeking amongst the ruins, bumping into walls as it quested for a path. It moved past their hiding place, taking its green glow, and a terrible smell, with it. As they relaxed, the green and brown flashes shot through the floor, bright in the gloom. Tassin tensed, and the world warped.
Broad daylight made her squint, and a wave of noise washed over her. She stood on a crumbling bank, and stepped back from a muddy pool filled with sludge, reeds, small amphibians and floating green scum. A swamp surrounded them, thick with marsh weeds, tall reeds and bulrush-like plants, and inhabited by a plethora of croaking, squeaking, grunting creatures.
A splashing drew their attention to the green worm, which struggled as it sank into the morass, its clawed feet seeking purchase in the treacherous ground. Reeds protruded from its flanks, torn from their roots by the monster's struggles, and Tassin wondered how many small creatures were embedded in its flesh. The thought gave her goose bumps, and she inspected herself, but found no plants or animals in her legs, to her relief.
Sabre glanced at Purr. "So it's Real-reality."
"A foolish beast. It won't last long."
They picked their way through the swamp, searching out firm ground on which to walk.
"Surely we should be moving out of real Flux-reality soon?" Tassin asked the mosscat.
"Soon," he agreed, hopping over a murky pool.
They spent the next few hours slogging through the unsavoury swamp, swatting biting insects and wading scummy pools. They stumbled upon some Real-reality in the form of a sparkling clear lake, and Purr gave a cry of delight. He plunged in and emerged with a silver fish clamped in his jaws, looking like an otter. Sabre collected dead reeds and built a fire to cook it, and they relaxed for a while, watching bright birds and pretty insects make their living in the swamp. The climate was pleasant, and only the biting insects spoilt the idyll.
Gearn stared at the shimmering barrier, aware of Murdor at his side, eyeing him with raised brows. The wolf sat closer to the mist, tongue lolling. Gearn had not bargained on their quarry reaching the Death Zone, never mind entering it. He had expected the tracks to veer off as the fugitives tried to go around the Zone, but the trail went straight into it.
Murdor rumbled, "I ain't goin' in there, wizard. Our bargain said nothin' of goin' into the Death Zone."
"No, no, of course not." Gearn dismounted, pondering the problem. He was just as unwilling to enter the Zone as Murdor. Unstrapping his bag, he laid out the collection of pots and bottles in the sand. With a few gestures, he conjured a pile of wood and built a fire. Murdor watched him, scratching an armpit.
"What are you goin' to do?"
Gearn glanced up with a frown. "I shall cast a spell to take us past the Zone. It's complex and leng
thy, so leave me alone. If they make it through, we will pick up their trail on the other side. If not, we return empty-handed, for even the King cannot blame me if she perishes in the Death Zone."
Murdor hawked and spat, then ambled off to sit in the sand while the wolf settled in the horse's shade, panting.
Chapter Four
Many hours of trudging through the sucking swamp left Tassin tired, dirty and insect-bitten. Her hair hung in damp strings and her legs ached in unison with her throbbing buttocks and face. Sabre called a halt beside a cleaner pool, and they washed, clothes and all. Her skirt chafed her legs after that, drying slowly in the humid air. When they came across a dull grey boulder next to a dead tree, Purr decided to wait on this bit of Real-reality for the next Change.
His timing was good. Within half an hour, the brown and green flickers came, and the world Changed. A wave of heat swept over them, as if they had stepped into a blast furnace, and Tassin groaned. A desert stretched away in an endless tract of flat, wind-rippled sand. An occasional odd rock or dead tree broke the sand's monotony, and these, she assumed, were Real-reality. Sabre sighed and shielded his eyes from the white sand's glare as he scanned the horizon. Purr hopped off the rock and ambled away, looking unconcerned, but Tassin was sick of deserts.
"This is as bad as the reality outside."
Sabre turned to look at her with narrowed eyes.
Purr gave his purring chuckle. "This one's easy. No obstacles, monsters visible from afar and as many Real-reality pools as before. A little hot, that's all."
Tassin's damp dress soon dried as she followed Sabre and Purr. The mosscat was almost naked, his body leaner and his eyes shielded by a dark membrane that dulled their yellow to brown. Bat-like ears shed heat, and sweat soon beaded his skin. To Tassin, it seemed far hotter than the desert outside, and she glanced up at the two suns that blazed in the pale sky, white-hot and virulent. Sweat trickled down her, and she gulped from a water skin. Sabre dropped back to walk beside her after a while, and handed her a petticoat from the pack, which she draped over her burning head, receiving some relief from the heat in its shade.
The suns beat down mercilessly, and as Tassin grew hotter her head swam and her legs dragged as if they were made of lead. She poured water over her head, soaking the petticoat and her dress, but it made little difference. Sweat ran down Sabre's flanks, and she wondered how he could stand it. When she stumbled, and he put out a hand to steady her, she found his skin cool. The cyber regulated his temperature somehow, she remembered, and his skin did seem flushed. Hers was on fire. Her eyes ached and her face throbbed. She sank down in the sand, unable to take another step.
Sabre squatted beside her. "Are you tired?"
She shook her head. "I'm hot. I am cooking. I cannot take this heat."
"Rest a while. It is very hot, and you don't want to get heatstroke. We'll wait for a Change. Perhaps the next one will be better."
"We are always waiting for a Change, and it's never better, just different."
He glanced around. "Do you think you can make it to that rock? It's Real-reality. We don't want you stuck in a tree again."
Tassin stumbled over the baking sand to the shimmering boulder and collapsed beside it. Sabre stood over her to shade her, which helped a little. She was relieved when the green and brown flashes came, and clambered onto the rock beside Sabre and Purr as Flux-reality Changed. To her delight, another pleasant woodland appeared, with tall, silver-barked trees bearing yellow and orange leaves. Humus, verdant moss and orchid-like flowers carpeted the ground. A cool breeze drained the heat from her wet skin in a blissful tide.
Tassin jumped off the boulder and smiled up at Sabre, who studied the terrain. Purr reverted to his fluffy form with a gentle sneeze, wiping his whiskers. Sabre stepped down, apparently satisfied, and they set off again. Soon they came across a path and followed it, since it was going in the right direction. When the path joined a well-used wagon track, Sabre stopped.
"This world is inhabited by people."
"Some of them are," Purr agreed.
Sabre walked on. "I hope they're friendly."
The wagon track made the going easy, and they traversed it at a brisk pace, Purr lengthening his legs to keep up.
After two hours, Sabre spotted smoke rising above the trees ahead.
"Looks like there's a village ahead. I guess it would be better to skirt it?"
Purr nodded. "Their food would do you no good."
"But we could rest, sleep in a soft bed!" Tassin protested.
"It's not worth the risk. Anyway, they probably wouldn't understand a word you said, and misunderstandings can be fatal. Death in Flux-reality is just as real as it is in Real-reality."
Tassin glared at the mosscat, and Sabre cocked his head, listening. Faint screams came from the direction of the smoke, carried on the breeze. Purr's ears expanded as he too picked up the distant sounds. Sabre quickened his pace, and Tassin had to trot to keep up. Several hundred metres further on, the forest ended, and the wagon track continued into a grassy vale where a village nestled.
A monster ravaged one of the thatched stone houses, ripping away its roof to attack the people who fled from it. Dull brown scales partially armoured the creature, and curved yellow claws tipped its toes. A forked tongue flickered from its snake-like head, which topped a long spiked neck. A ridge of spines protruded from its back, and it dragged a club-like spiked tail. A swathe of flattened buildings and wrecked barns marked its progress through the collection of humble dwellings that surrounded a well-worn dirt square.
Sabre stopped and frowned at the scene. Tassin halted beside him with a gasp of horror. Great gouges were torn in the cultivated land around the village, and women and children fled the carnage along paths that radiated from it into the woods and to a river that ran beside it. Farmers harassed the monster with hoes and hay forks, beating it ineffectually with clubs and staves. It ignored their futile efforts and attacked the houses, slaughtering their fleeing occupants. Sabre cursed.
"A Real-reality monster?"
Purr nodded. "It will go down in their legends as a great dragon."
"If any live to tell the tale." Sabre shucked the pack and pulled out the sword. "I'm going to help." He strode away.
Tassin ran after him. "I'm coming with you!"
He stopped and swung around, frowning. "No you're not. You wait here with Purr."
"I can help! I have a dagger and I can fight!"
"Don't be bloody ridiculous! You'll just get in the way. Stay here with Purr."
She drew herself up. "You cannot order me around! I shall do as I please. I am a queen."
"So help me, Tassin, I'll tie you to a tree if I must. You're not coming with me, and that's final!" He loomed over her, his eyes glinting. "You're a damned annoying little girl, now do as you're told."
"Fine! Go and get killed! I hope you do!" She turned and flounced back to the trees. He shot her an exasperated look, then headed for the village.
Tassin leant against a tree and scowled at his retreating back, folding her arms. Purr became engrossed in grooming his fat belly. When she could keep silent no longer, she burst out, "He is an insufferable, arrogant, overbearing pig!"
The mosscat looked up. "Actually, he's a considerate, gentle, courageous man. You're lucky to have him, and even luckier that he feels so protective about you. He's a great warrior, and I think he'd lay down his life for you. But in this instance he's right, and he's only trying to keep you out of danger."
The rage drained out of her. "He hardly knows I am alive. He only pays attention to me when I'm being a nuisance or causing a problem."
"He cares about you a great deal; he just tries not to show it."
"Why?"
Purr shrugged. "I don't know; I'm not a human. But I can see the look in his eyes."
"Then why can't I?"
The mosscat chuckled. "Because it's never there when you look at him."
"So he does not want me to know? But why?"
"Perhaps he considers you to be too young."
"He's only ten years older than me."
Purr shook his head. "He must have his reasons. But he does care about you."
"Perhaps he's afraid I will reject him. After all, I am a queen." She gazed at Sabre's dwindling form, filled with dread that he would not come back, and regretting her outburst. "I'm going to help him."
"I wouldn't do that. He'll be angry."
"If he cares about me as you say, he will not," she called over her shoulder as she trotted away.
Purr snorted. "The more he cares, the angrier he'll be."
Sabre glanced around at the carnage as he neared the village. Dead men, women, children and farm animals lay in the ploughed fields, many with their heads crushed, some pounded into the mud or torn apart. A swathe of trampled crops and corpses led to the village, where the men had come out to try to chase the beast away. Terrified women hid amongst the trees at the edge of the forest, some clutching babies or belongings, soothing wailing toddlers. He broke into a lope, and the women stared at him as he passed.
Rounding a house, he entered the main square, where the men fought a losing battle with the creature. They waved blazing brands and leapt in to land blows with clubs and pitchforks. A man was caught by a scything foreleg and swept screaming into a wall with a sickening crunch. The monster hissed, spraying saliva as it weaved its head about, its large, metallic-green eyes searching for prey. He raised the sword and approached the creature's flank, where thick scales grated against each other as it moved. The beast stood three metres tall at the shoulder, and its head rose seven metres high when it lifted it. Some of the men shouted at him, but he could not understand their language.
Reaching the creature's side, he thrust the sword in to the hilt between two scales just behind its foreleg. The monster hissed and whipped around with remarkable speed, forcing him to dive aside. He rolled to his feet and slashed at a raking forefoot as he dodged it, drawing blood again. The beast lunged at him, its black tongue flicking and jaws agape to reveal rows of shark-like teeth. He sidestepped and slashed, inflicting another wound on the creature's head, but his next swing hit armour and bounced off with a clang. Diving aside to avoid the fast-moving animal again, he rolled and ran, keeping just out of reach of its claws.
The Cyber Chronicles 02: Death Zone Page 4
