by Philip Blood
A shrill whistle came from just up the street and Dono froze. "Gedin, they're on us!"
"This way!" Lor called, running up the street.
They followed him through the thin crowd of people who took little notice of four children dashing through the streets. The crowd began to get thicker, slowing them a bit, and the occasional whistles from behind them started getting closer.
They rounded a corner into one of the large open-air market squares and Lor led them into the throng of buyers.
For all Aerin knew this was the very market they had looked down at from above earlier. He tried to spot the building corner where they had been perched and ran smack into the belly of a very round man. The young boy rebounded, landing hard on his rump when he hit the ground.
"Watch where you're running, boy, and speaking of running, stop that too!” the fat man exclaimed, then stepped around Aerin and continued on his way, nose held high.
Aerin started to his feet but was suddenly grabbed by either arm. He looked up and found himself staring at two strangers. Both boys were around sixteen, and they were smiling wickedly. "So, boy," one hissed, "you're in Skulls Town and you don't have no leave to be, now we'll be teaching you what happens when you run from the Skulls!"
Aerin saw a small earring pierced through one boy's right ear, it was in the shape of a cheap looking silver skull.
The crowd parted slightly and the boys each kept a grip on one of Aerin's arms as they started walking him down the row of seller's booths.
"Don't say nothin' or call out or I promise we'll break your arms," the boy on his left said and smiled, showing one of his front teeth broken half off at an angle.
Aerin shuddered.
Then Lor was standing before them next to a booth displaying small gold inlaid jewelry boxes. The owner was busy with a patron so his back was half-turned away from Lor.
Lor reached back and in one quick motion snatched one of the boxes and tossed it to the cracked tooth boy holding Aerin's left arm. "Catch," Lor exclaimed.
In reflex to keep the box from hitting his face, the boy released Aerin's arm and caught the box.
Lor immediately pointed and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Thief!"
The Skulls gang member's mouth dropped open as the large shopkeeper spun and saw one of his jewelry boxes in the miscreant's hands. "Stop that thief!” he seconded, pointing a chubby finger at the shocked boy.
"It wasn't me, I..." he started, still holding the box, but when some angry citizen's started closing on him he yelped and darted away through an opening between two tents, still holding the box. "Stop him!" someone yelled, and the chase was on.
The crowd closed in on this interesting action and Aerin was pulled away from the other Skulls boy. He lost sight of Lor and just tried to keep from getting trampled.
Hands grabbed his collar and dragged him between two tents. Aerin yelped, but it was Dono's voice that said, "Quiet, it's us, you Drakwolf!"
Aerin was relieved to see Dono and Darel crouched down between the two tents. A few moments later Lor slipped in and gestured for them to follow. They played a game of cat and mouse with a few of the Skulls who were hunting them through the market but finally slipped out into a side street.
"I think we've lost them," Darel noted while looking back down the street over his shoulder.
A shrill whistle let out from nearby and they all spotted a fairly young boy who was about their age. He had two fingers in his mouth to assist his whistling.
Dono scowled again. "It's that stinkin' son of a Wiggen, Berver, again! I'm gonna pound his ears!"
"Later," Lor suggested and then dashed down the street. The other three boys followed. Behind them, they once again heard the whistles of the Skulls hunting pack resuming the chase.
"Ok, Lor, this is your great moment to impress us," Darel exclaimed from the back as they ran.
Dono pointed to a wagon that was parked close enough to a lower roof edge to start them up onto the rooftops.
Lor took one step toward it but then stopped.
Dono nearly ran into him. "What are you waiting for? They'll be here any moment!"
"They'll know we went to the roofs," Lor exclaimed.
Dono started forward again. "So, who's king of the High Road?"
Lor glanced at Aerin and Darel. "You forget these two are Greenies? The Skulls will be all over us like crap in the sewers... wait, that's it! Since they know I'll go up, we'll go down, follow me!" Lor ran to the side of the street where the large black opening of a sewer drain split the curb. He ducked down on his belly and lithely slipped in. "Come on, hurry!" his voice echoed from the dark interior.
Aerin got down and dropped in after him and Dono followed. Darel stopped when he got close and could smell the rankness coming from the hole. "Gedin's breath, I'm not climbing into that foul hole!” he exclaimed from where he had just lain down. He started to get back up, but a hand darted out of the opening and grabbed the fine collar of his shirt. With a yelp, he was pulled headfirst into the drain.
It wasn't a moment too soon. The sounds of running feet passed above a moment later and the whistles of their hunters echoed in the round stone tunnel where they crouched. Lor had a hand over Darel's face, which stopped most of the mumbling sounds. As soon as the footsteps were gone he released the struggling boy.
"Of all the foul and disgusting things I've ever smelled or done… this takes the ribbon!” he exclaimed and backed away from the thin river of slime that ran down the center of the tunnel. "Can we please get out of here… NOW!"
Lor grinned at him. "Too dirty for you, pretty boy?"
Darel scowled at the other boy, "I'm not your pretty boy, and I can handle anything you can."
Lor started down the tunnel deeper into the sewer. "Good, then follow me, if you dare."
After traveling some distance from the place where they had entered the sewer they came to a branching of tunnels. After a little discussion between Lor and Dono, they picked one of the larger ones. As they began to realize that they had truly escaped the Skulls their relief turned to euphoria.
"THIEF, he yelled," Aerin exclaimed, imitating Lor's shout. It echoed down the sewer.
Dono snickered and that made Aerin start to laugh. Darel was trying to be sullen, but the echoing laughter of the other two boys was infectious and he was soon laughing with them.
"Did you see that look on his face?" Lor exclaimed while imitating the Skulls boy's look of shock and surprise. "And when he bolted, that was perfect!" Lor then splashed off down the sewer tunnel. He waved his hands frantically in panic above his head giving an exaggerated performance of the running Skull Town boy.
The other three boys yelled, "Stop thief!” Then laughing, they ran down the sewer tunnel after Lor.
They were still laughing and running when the body dropped from high above to land directly before Lor. In real panic Lor tried to stop and slipped in the mossy water, nearly skidding into the thrashing body. Red blood pumped from the slit throat of the dying victim.
The man was not yet dead and he tried to speak, but only bubbles of blood came out of his mouth. Using his trembling finger and his own blood he drew a triangle with a single dot in the center on the slimy stones of the sewer, and immediately below he wrote four letters, "T-o-g-r," then he convulsed massively and died.
Aerin's face was white; the blood covered body brought back the horror of his murdered parents.
Even though the man was dead the massive wound in his throat still poured a trail of red blood into the stream of fetid water running through the sewer.
A feeling of terror rose in their hearts and as one, the boys turned and ran from the grisly sight. They ran in blind terror for a few minutes through the dank sewers, but finally, Aerin slowed and Darel turned to look back over his shoulder.
"What are you doing?” he demanded, slowing as well.
Aerin stopped and the other three boys came to a halt as well. All of them were shaking from the cold, the exertion and the terror.
Darel shook even more than the rest of them, but he said, "He's right; we have to go back and see if there is anything we can do."
Lor scowled at him, "Why? We had nothing to do with this murder. He's dead, and going back isn't going to bring him back to life, and it could get us killed."
Darel took a deep breath, "No, Aerin is right; we have a duty to see if there is anything we can do. This is murder."
"Exactly, and I don't want to be next," Lor stated.
"Suit yourself, but I'm going back," Aerin answered and headed back down the sewer.
Dono and Darel followed, and then a reluctant and mumbling Lor came along as well.
As they neared the location of the body their feelings of terror returned. The boys stopped thirty yards away; the corpse was around the next bend.
"Gedin, do you feel that?" Darel said in a quivering voice as all four boys came to a halt.
Aerin nodded, swallowing dryly.
"It's the evil one's power," Darel whispered. Then he spoke repeating teachings he had learned, but ignored until now, "When a murder happens the Dreadmaster comes to stain the world for all to know and fear Gedin's wrath," he quoted from the Book of The Hand.
Aerin spoke in a quivering voice as he tried to master his fear, "My father taught me that the feelings of fear and terror are the power of the Dreadmaster, but that we must not give in to them or we feed his power."
He took a step forward and felt the terror increase. The other three boys followed him and he managed to take another step. With each step forward the next became a little easier, but as Aerin neared the corner he imagined the dead bleeding body of the man standing and waiting for the boys to appear. His terror increased and Aerin couldn't make himself step around the last bend.
It was then that Aerin heard the low whispered voice speaking from just around the corner, it gurgled as if bubbles of blood were forming on the lips of the speaker, "Come to me and we will join and be together forever, for I am legion."
Aerin's heart lurched in his chest in such fear that he nearly threw up.
His body shook, and he would have run, but he was too afraid to turn his back.
The low whispering voice spoke again, "You called me from my slumber, but we have not met. Come... Aerin..." the voice called, pausing as if just finding out his name.
Aerin wished he had the strength to run; he knew he was about to die. He knew the creature was just around the corner, just two feet away.
Behind him Lor spoke, "Well if we're going back then let's hurry up and get it over with!"
His mundane impatience gave Aerin the strength he needed, so he leaped to the side of the sewer so he could see the horrible creature that knew his name. A bloody hand did not come down on his shoulder, as he had expected, instead, he saw the fallen form of the dead Guardsman still lying in the sewer. The dead body had not moved. With his imagination finally under control, Aerin found it easier to move forward, though the terror still huddled just under the surface of his control.
Following his example, the other three managed to come around the corner after him.
"Did you guys hear that voice?” he asked his friends.
Lor puzzled voice answered from close behind, "Voice?"
Aerin was afraid his friends would think he was a coward and imagining things, so he said, "I guess it was just an echo."
As they approached the fallen body they recognized the color of the man's clothes.
"Gedin take me, it's a Guardsman," Dono exclaimed, his eyes taking in the dead man's uniform.
Lor backed away from the ghastly corpse lying in the sewer. "Who would dare kill a Guardsman? They'll turn over ever stone in the city, hunt down the killer and feed his liver to the fish," Lor whispered.
Darel swallowed his fear and crouched down near the Guardsman to study his face. "I know this man."
Dono gave Darel a puzzled frown. "Know him, how? In Gedin's name, I thought you were new here!"
Darel glanced at Dono who stood above him. "You said that, not me. I've lived in Strakhelm all my life. We should go to the Guardsmen and tell them what we know."
Lor looked horrified. "I will NOT! Do you have any idea what kind of questioning they'll put us through? Or maybe some dank cell full of rats and... and... and who knows what? No, we forget we ever saw this, let the Guardsmen find out for themselves."
Darel stood up and faced Lor. "No, that wouldn't be right, we have a duty."
"Duty… to what? I have a duty to myself not to get locked up," Lor complained.
Aerin stepped between the two boys. "You're both right, but this man has put an onus on us. He entrusted us with his final seconds of life when he tried to identify his murderer; we cannot fail him."
That caught Lor and Darel's attention. "What do you mean?" Lor exclaimed.
Aerin pointed to the blood on the stones of the sewer. "He felt it important enough to write this message in his own blood, and he wrote it to US. I say we try to find out what it means, and if we do find something worthwhile that might help solve this crime, we leave a note for a Guardsman. That way we turn in the information without telling them who we are."
Lor was frowning at the strange marks on the stone. "I don't know... maybe."
Darel looked determined and one of his brown eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke. "I'll agree if it's understood that we must tell them what we know, regardless of what else we uncover, they might figure this out from the message better than four kids."
Aerin nodded.
Lor pointed at the short word the Guardsman had scrawled. "What does that say?"
Darel studied it for a moment. "I'm not sure..."
"You don't read either?" Lor asked.
"Of course, I read, it's just not a word," Darel replied.
Aerin crouched down next to Darel. "Maybe it is two words, with the second unfinished. To gr...," he sounded out the second syllable, sounding like a growl.
"What about this? Is it a word?" Dono pointed at the triangle with the dot in the center.
Aerin shook his head. "No, that's not a letter or word; it's a symbol of some kind."
"You can READ?" Dono exclaimed. They hadn't been too surprised that the well-dressed Darel knew his letters, but this country boy?
Aerin looked at them defiantly. "Yes, it's not magic or something you know. Anyway, have any of you seen something like this symbol before?"
None of them remembered it.
Aerin stood up. His feeling of terror still remained, but now it felt more like the fear he felt when standing near the edge of a high place, present, but manageable. "Well, it’s getting time for me to get back; I didn't say I'd be gone this long. Why don't we get together soon and see what any of us has come up with."
Dono nodded.
Darel said, "If I can."
After a glance at Darel, Lor said, "We must all swear not to speak of this to anyone else until we leave the note for the Guardsmen, and then never again unless we all agree."
Aerin put out his hand, palm up. "We'll form a pact, we only speak of this when we’re together, and we come if the others need us, no matter what… and we never betray one another."
The other three put their hands together on top of Aerin's. "Now think of the most important thing in your life and hope to lose it if you break this pact," he explained, remembering a story he had once read.
Each boy thought for a moment and then nodded.
"Our pact is sealed. Now when do we next meet?" Aerin asked.
Lor answered. "I say tomorrow; we’ll meet at one hour past noon outside the Inn where we all first met."
Darel looked troubled but nodded.
Dono and Aerin agreed.
Aerin looked around the sewer, occasional openings above cast beams of light across the round walls every so many yards. "Lor, can you lead us away from here? I don't want to run into whoever killed the Guardsman by climbing up here and right into their knife."
> "I can get us somewhere near Ragol Square, then we can climb out and take a look," Lor decided.
Lor led the way down the tunnel with Dono and Darel right behind him, Aerin brought up the rear.
Aerin once again thought about the evil whisper he had heard earlier and wanted to look back to make sure the corpse wasn't moving behind him. He shivered and suddenly felt a cold presence. He stopped as if frozen, standing in the mucky water. His friends continued on ahead. Aerin felt someone's breath on the back of his neck and smelled blood in the air. He was just about to spin around when the voice whispered from right behind his ear, "I'll be seeing you soon, Aerin."
Aerin ran, not caring about the fetid water he splashed and not daring to look behind him until he caught up with his friends. When he finally gained enough courage to look down their back trail there was nothing but the disturbed water behind them.
Once out on the street Darel bid them goodbye and headed away quickly. Lor and Dono took Aerin to within sight of his Inn and then waved at their new friend before fading into the city streets.
Chapter Four
“And by promise broken, the teacher will find her student."
- From the Prophecies of Gold
Gandarel's return to the Seat of Stone was as bad as he had anticipated. Once they recognized him through the caked mud and filth on his clothes, the guards admitted him through the gate and escorted him to the main hall. Standing on the landing at the top of the entry stairs was Niler Corbin, first seat of the council, and Gandarel's personal nightmare. The young boy could almost swear there was a small thundercloud actually hovering above the scowling councilman.
"Where have you been, Gandarel Trelic?"
Twenty lies came to mind instantly in the face of the anger on Niler's face, but what came out was the bald truth. "I... wanted to see the city," he sputtered.
Niler shook his head sadly at Gandarel. "After all, I've tried to teach you since your father died; he would be so disappointed in what you have become."
More than anything else that Niler could have said, that blow hurt Gandarel. He looked down at his muddy feet in shame.
