The Hunter's Gambit

by Nicholas McIntire

  At the mention of Bael’s name the lieutenant flinched visibly. He glanced cursorily at the cart, then sighed, “Very well, soldier. Clark! Henderson!”

  Two men rose and saluted, their eyes immediately trailing to Aleksei and his charge. “Sir?

  “This boy has bodies for Bael. Take a Fist, each of you. Lord Perron’s told us a hundred times not to let no magic out of sight. Follow him to the city gate and see that nothing weird happens. Anything comes out of those carts, put a blade though this hayseed first, got it? You men are to burn anything out of the ordinary. Bael can find more corpses. And if he can’t, we can always make more, starting with this nitwit.”

  The two men chuckled.

  Aleksei offered the man a bright smile.

  The lieutenant spat. “Get on with it.”

  “Thank ya, Lieutenant, Sir.” Aleksei said with a nod. He patted Agriphon gently and the horses started walking again, carrying the cart into the city, the guards practically breathing down his neck.

  The farther they got from the Palace Gate, the easier Aleksei breathed. He realized, however, that getting out of the city would not be nearly so easy.

  There were now twelve guards keeping a close eye on the cart, their orders fresh in their minds. And at any rate, the Palace Gate had been destroyed beyond all repair. All Aleksei had to do was walk through the soot-stained pavement where it had once stood, two idiots following behind him, another ten just behind them.

  The East Gate out of the city, on the other hand, was massive, and under much heavier guard. Aleksei had been hoping to get deep into Kalinor proper before helping Andariana and Aya into the sewers, just as he’d freed Tamara. The addition of twelve fresh men made that plan immediately untenable.

  Worse still, it took a score of men to open even one of the gates, and rarely was that feat performed more than once a day. They would never get out into the countryside with such a story. The heavy guard only made Aleksei’s every move that much more suspicious.

  As he walked alongside his horses, Aleksei ran over a variety of scenarios in his mind. This was a case where force would serve only to hinder him. He needed his wits now.

  A handful of minutes drifted by, and the East Gate came into view.

  The men standing watch looked disinterested as he approached, nodding to the guards behind him.

  “Evening, gentlemen. Or, golly, guess it’s mornin’ by now.” Aleksei said, flashing the same vacant smile.

  “What’s with the guard?” one of the men standing outside the gatehouse demanded.

  “Lieutenant’s orders.” Aleksei barked crisply. “Dangerous cargo and all that. I’d be mighty obliged if you’d open the gate for me. I mean, I wouldn’t want these things to wake up while any of us was standing around.”

  The gatehouse guardsman frowned, “What’s he talking about?”

  One of the men commanding the guard spoke up. “Boy says Lord Bael asked for these bodies. Said something ‘bout a ‘magic army’?”

  Aleksei’s eyes widened, “Didn’t anyone tell you?” When he was met with dead stares, Aleksei shook his head, backing away from the cart, “These bodies are ‘chanted special by the Lord Bael himself. Great gods, any second they’ll start moving about and wailing and then….”

  The men finally managed to look alarmed. “I’ve heard stories about these things.” one of the commanders muttered. “They eat men just as you please.”

  The guard still wasn’t convinced, “What’re you going do once you get them out of the city?”

  Aleksei started dry-washing his hands anxiously, “There’s a Magus waiting for me, us, outside of town. Bael said to take ‘em, wants to corral them and get ‘em ready to fight an’ all. But if I can’t get them there in time, they’ll eat anything they see.”

  No sooner had Aleksei said this than the bodies in the cart began to shake. The sound of nails scraping on wood and metal sent the men into a frenzy. An unearthly moaning sounded from the pile of dead flesh.

  “Gods!” one of the soldiers cried, running inside the gatehouse and returning a moment later with a crowd of soldiers.

  “Open the bloody gates!” the other roared, pushing with all his might.

  Aleksei started the cart forward, nodding his thanks to the men pushing the gate open, his face set in an expression of genuine worry. His guard remained firmly behind, leaving one lone simpleton to his fate.

  And then they were out in the countryside, heading down the path and away from Kalinor. Aleksei swung himself into the driver’s seat and allowed himself to breathe a touch easier the farther they got. Every now and then he would glance over his shoulder, searching the East Gate for signs that they had been discovered.

  It didn’t come until they were within a league of the Wood. The wind blew in from the west, granting Aleksei his warning. He could smell horses and sweat on the air.

  Aleksei stopped the cart and quickly removed the harness from the horses, drawing both a safe distance from the cart. He hurried around to the back and pulled the bodies off of Andariana and Aya, helping the women out of the cart.

  When both women were on their feet he turned to Aya, “Set the cart on fire. I need it to be blazing.”

  Aya didn’t ask him why, she simply turned and began torching the cart with waves of flame.

  “We’ve got riders on our tail. I’ll go engage them, you ride Dash into the Wood. One of the Ri-Vhan should find you and take you to their village. Do you understand?”

  Aya nodded, turning away from the cart.

  She took Dash’s reins and helped the queen into the saddle before climbing on herself. Then the Magus booted her heels into the draft horse’s side and they shot off into the darkness.

  Aleksei wasted no time watching them go. He glanced back at the cart, now blazing against the black sky of early morning.

  Satisfied, Aleksei vaulted onto Agriphon’s back. The warhorse surged beneath him, thundering like a malevolent shadow towards the oncoming riders.

  He turned the stallion aside into the knee-high grass, reining him back far from the firelight, waiting until the riders passed him. The burning cart drew them like moths. He spurred Agriphon back onto the road and after the men.

  Aleksei counted only five riders.

  It made sense. After all, why would any more be sent to deal with one man driving a cart of possibly undead corpses? Aleksei knew that in their panic to open the gate no one had noticed the sort of horses he had pulling the cart of dead men.

  He came galloping behind the riders, now stopped in front of the burning cart, shouting to one another. In the roar of the inferno, no one heard him coming.

  In short order he had cut down four men. The fifth managed to turn his horse around, but a heartbeat later Aleksei’s knife ripped into his throat.

  Aleksei rode up to him and pulled the knife free with a twist before the man had a chance to drop from his saddle. He wheeled Agriphon around toward the Wood.

  Gods willing, he could still catch up.

  Aya glanced over her shoulder, but all she could see in the distance was the brilliance of the burning cart. Still, she supposed it was having a similar effect on the riders heading for Aleksei.

  She had confidence that the Hunter could deal with the threat. She was less certain of her own abilities to navigate a place like the Seil Wood in the dead of predawn.

  Dash seemed undaunted, however, so Aya guided him into the darkness of the Wood.

  They rode in silence for several minutes before Andariana spoke, “Perhaps we should walk instead. If the horse steps in a hole, we’ll all go down.”

  Aya nodded her agreement and helped the queen onto the path. The Wood was so dark they could hardly see in front of their noses.

  “Aya, can you make it any brighter?” Andariana asked, fumbling in the dark.

  Aya let out a regretful groan. They had all learned how to summon small globes of light, but it was not an easy trick to manage. If Aya
held the lights she would be able to do little else. But as it stood, they could barely see to put one foot in front of the other.

  A moment later, several small lights flickered into existence above their heads.

  The path began to take more twists and turns the deeper into the Wood they went, until Aya could have sworn they were walking in circles. She frowned, glancing around herself in confusion.

  “What is it?” Andariana whispered, searching the darkness where Aya had been staring a moment before.

  “I’m not sure. This place just feels…familiar. Like we’ve been here before.”

  Andariana looked about the Wood helplessly. Aya doubted she’d been paying any real attention to where they were heading. And in all fairness, Aya knew the queen’s mind had been captured by many other concerns.

  From the moment they’d reached the Wood, Andariana had been filling her Aya’s ears with all the things rushing through her mind. Her Palace, her throne, her daughter. The fact that the title of Lord Captain didn’t seem nearly grand enough for the services that Aleksei had provided her on this night alone.

  Aya briefly tried to imagine Lord Captain Lenox out-smarting ten men, then packing her into a cart full of dead traitors and talking his way past two sets of guards. It was impossible to picture portly Captain Lenox being nearly so resourceful.

  Something fluttered overhead, and Aya recoiled in fright. She looked up, but saw nothing past the brilliant glow of her little lights. She supposed there could be a million bats up there and she would be none the wiser.

  “Wait.” Andariana whispered, turning to regard a particularly dense burst of undergrowth. “I think there’s something back here.”

  Aya followed the queen into the underbrush, thinking all the while that they shouldn’t leave the path or they might never find it again.

  Dash suddenly reared and turned away, ripping his reins from Andariana’s hand and galloping away into the night. Aya stared after the horse in frustration, then turned back to the queen.

  But Andariana’s attention was fixed dead ahead. Aya stepped next to the queen and gasped as the darkness of night suddenly gave way to a large clearing.

  Moonlight bathed the scene before them in brilliant, ghostly light. A field stretched out for well over three hundred paces. In the center of the field a tall, spindly tower rose imperiously into the sky.

  A heavy thud sounded behind her and Aya turned to find the most massive creature she had ever seen staring down at her. Its head resembled a wolf’s, but the two black wings rising from its back suggested something else entirely.

  It snarled just as she opened her mouth to scream.

  CHAPTER 47

  Cassian's Pride

  ROUX STUMBLED OUT into the fresh, clean air of the Ilyari plain, gasping for breath. Gods, but it stank in that tunnel! He stepped away from the rivulets of waste that were trickling into the tributary and collapsed at the water’s edge, ripping off the cursed boots he had stuffed his feet into before plunging into the river of sewage.

  Some poor clergyman may wonder where he’d misplaced his finest pair, but Roux couldn’t imagine anybody wanting these particular specimens back.

  He would never understand how his cousin was able to spend each and every day with those things trapping his feet so tightly. Then again, he had enjoyed the protection they gave him from the swirling sea of human waste.

  Magi and their Knights were now filing out into the open air, some raising their arms exultantly to the heavens in thanks, others retching into the river.

  Ilyana emerged and made her way over to him, her Knight Marrik a protective pace behind.

  “We owe you a great debt, Ri-Hnon.” she said, breathing in deep gasps of the clearing morning air.

  “I’d hold your gratitude until I’ve brought you to safety, Lady Magus. We’re not in the Wood yet. Aleksei warned me that patrols could be scouring the countryside by the time we emerged.”

  “For us?”

  Roux rubbed his face in exhaustion, realizing that dawn was almost upon them.

  “For you, for the Queen, for the Princess, for Jonas, for Aleksei. You name someone, Emelian Krasik’s going to be searching for them.”

  Ilyana looked at Roux in disbelief, “You’re telling me that Aleksei managed to get Tamara and Andariana out of the Palace?”

  Roux threw up his hands, barely holding his exasperation in check, “I can’t promise it, but assuming everything went according to plan, yes. He brought Princess Tamara to the Ri-Vhan village earlier last night and I offered my help. When I left him to take the lot of you out, he was heading to the south wing to free the Queen.”

  Ilyana looked up to the star-littered sky, breathing a sigh of relief, “Gods be praised. If he managed that….”

  Roux just shrugged his shoulders. It was not the first time he would be astounded by something Aleksei had managed. He thought it fitting that Jonas Belgi seemed to have garnered a similar reputation. The two men were a fine compliment to each other.

  He suddenly realized that the reason she was talking to him was because the entirety of the Voralla had exited the tunnel. He jumped to his feet, ashamed that he had been so easily seduced by the softness of the grass and the cool of the water.

  “Come on,” he called, “we still have half a league before we reach the Wood.”

  With Ilyana’s help, Roux got the Magi and Knights moving at a dogged pace for the Wood, all the while watching the western horizon for signs that they had been discovered.

  When they were within a hundred paces of the Wood, people began to step out of the trees. Men and women dressed in simple, earth-colored clothing. Roux gave a great sigh of relief.

  The Ri-Vhan had found them.

  Two by two his people began to take the Knights and Magi back to the village. In moments the unruly crowd had become an organized few. And then they were gone.

  “Roux!”

  The Ri-Hnon turned to see Aleksei galloping towards him on his great black warhorse. He looked even more exhausted than Roux, but there was a fire in his eyes.

  “Where are they? Have they already gone up?”

  Roux frowned, “The Magi? Just now.”

  Aleksei shook his head, “No. The Queen and Magus Aya. They were supposed to meet up with you.”

  “We’ve only just arrived at the Wood’s edge, Cousin. They could be enjoying a cup of tea by my fireside and I wouldn’t know.”

  Aleksei grunted irritably, “Well then, I suppose we should go up and see. If they’re not there yet, I’ll need to start searching.”

  Roux quirked a smile, “If they’re in the Wood you can find them, Aleksei. Besides, how much trouble could they honestly find in the dark? They could hardly have made it a league into the Wood, even if they walked all night.”

  Aleksei arched a golden eyebrow.

  “Come on then, we’ll go up and you can see for yourself.” Roux said.

  He offered Aleksei his arm, but the Hunter shook his head. “I’d prefer to pull as little notice towards the Ri-Vhan as possible. Let’s get a little deeper into the Wood.”

  Aleksei rode into the Wood for several moments before finally pulling Agriphon to a halt. He dismounted and turned to the stallion. “Stay here. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Agriphon snorted indignantly, but seemed to understand the Hunter. Roux snapped into existence next to him.

  “When you’re ready.”

  Roux reached out and gripped Aleksei’s arm. The world flashed into whites and grays, then back into the familiar surroundings of the village.

  Aleksei searched the crowd of Magi, almost in a panic, until he found Ilyana.

  “Have you seen Aya?”

  She frowned, “I thought she was with you and the Queen.”

  “We got separated. I know they rode into the Wood, but I don’t know where they went.”

  “Why don’t you just ask the Wood?” Roux suggested from behind.
/>   Aleksei winced.

  “Mother Wood,” he said aloud, oblivious to the curious glances he received for the Magi and Ri-Vhan alike, “I’m looking for the Ilyari Queen and a Magus accompanying her. Are they within your boundaries?”

  They are. Came the soft, sweet voice of the Wood.

  “Where are they?” he asked quickly.

  This time there was a much longer pause before the answer arrived. They have passed beyond My sight. They have wandered away from the shelter of the trees.

  Aleksei turned to Roux and stared at him for a moment, clearly at a loss.

  “She says they’ve passed beyond Her sight. Something about wandering away from the trees.”

  Roux frowned, shaking his head.

  “What is it?”

  “I might know where they are, Aleksei, but we can’t go there. No one can.”

  Aleksei blinked in dumbfounded silence, “I don’t understand.”

  “I wish I could explain it better,” Roux said earnestly, “but the truth is we don’t know much more than that. Just that we’ve received replies from the Wood in a similar manner before. She’s tried to guide me to a place that I can’t reach. It only happens when we attempt to locate people who’ve become lost.”

  “Lost? Like children who can’t find their way back to the village?”

  “Children, older Ri-Vhan whose minds have started to wander. Lost as in they never return to us. They just disappear.”

  Aleksei ran his hand through his hair before turning his face back to the black canopy. “Mother Wood.” Aleksei pleaded, “Mother, have they been taken captive?”

  All who venture into the darkness return changed, Hunter. None return as they were made. None. They are changed forever. By him.

  Even in the dim village firelight, Aleksei paled, “Him? Who are you talking about?”

  The one who lives in Darkness, Hunter.

  The one called Azarael.

  Bael stood near the chamber’s center, his eyes fixed on the point hovering mere inches from his face. To the naked eye there was nothing of significance to behold in the cavernous white room, only stark white walls and a single doorway. That doorway had been sealed for an era, barring men and Magi from reaching Ilyar’s greatest treasure.