House of Chains

by Steven Erikson

  A body dived with a snarl to wrap burly arms around Karsa’s legs. Still laughing, the Uryd warleader punched down with his sword, the pommel crunching through the top of the warrior’s skull. The arms spasmed and fell away.

  A sword hissed towards his neck from the right. Still in close-quarter guard, Karsa spun to take the blade with his own, the impact ringing both weapons with a pealing, sonorous sound.

  He heard the closing step of the Rathyd behind him, felt the air cleave to the blade swinging in towards his left shoulder, and he pitched instantly down and to his right. Wheeling his own sword around, arms extending as he fell. The edge swept above and past the warrior’s savage downstroke, cut through a pair of thick wrists, then tore through abdomen, from belly-button and across, between ribcage and point of hip, then bursting clear.

  Still spinning as he toppled, he renewed the swing that had been staggered by bone and flesh, twisting his shoulders to follow the blade as it passed beneath him, then around to the other side. The slash cleared the ground at a level that took the last Rathyd’s left leg at the ankle. Then the ground hammered into Karsa’s right shoulder. Rolling away, his sword trailing crossways across his own body, deflecting but not quite defeating a downward blow—fire tearing into his right hip—then he was beyond the warrior’s reach—and the man was shrieking and stumbling an awkward retreat.

  Karsa’s roll brought him upright once more, into a crouch that spurted blood down his right leg, that sent stinging stabs into his left side, his back beneath his right shoulder blade, and his left thigh where the knives were still buried.

  He found himself facing the youth.

  No more than forty, not yet at his full height, lean of limb as the Unready often were. Eyes filled with horror.

  Karsa winked, then wheeled around to close on the one-footed warrior.

  His shrieks had grown frenzied, and Karsa saw that Bairoth and Delum had reached him and had joined in the game, their blades taking the other foot and both hands. The Rathyd was on the ground between them, limbs jerking and spurting blood across the trampled grass.

  Karsa glanced back to see the youth fleeing towards the woods. The warleader smiled.

  Bairoth and Delum began chasing the floundering Rathyd warrior about, chopping pieces from his flailing limbs.

  They were angry, Karsa knew. He had left them nothing. Ignoring his two companions and their brutal torture, he plucked the butchering knife from his thigh. Blood welled but did not spurt, telling him that no major artery or vein had been touched. The knife in his left side had skittered along ribs and lay embedded flat beneath skin and a few layers of muscle. He drew the weapon out and tossed it aside. The last knife, sunk deep into his back, was harder to reach and it took a few attempts before he managed to find a sure clasp of its smeared handle and then pull it out. A longer blade would have reached his heart. As it was, it would probably be the most irritating of the three minor wounds. The sword-cut into his hip and through part of a buttock was slightly more serious. It would have to be carefully sewn, and would make both riding and walking painful for a while.

  Loss of blood or a fatal blow had silenced the dismembered Rathyd, and Karsa heard Bairoth’s heavy steps approach. Another scream announced Delum’s examination of the other fallen. ‘Warleader.’ Anger made the voice taut. Karsa slowly turned. ‘Bairoth Gild.’

  The heavy warrior’s face was dark. ‘You let the youth escape. We must hunt him, now, and it will not be easy for these are his lands, not ours.’

  ‘He is meant to escape,’ Karsa replied. Bairoth scowled.

  ‘You’re the clever one,’ Karsa pointed out, ‘why should this baffle you so?’

  ‘He reaches his village.’

  ‘Aye.’

  ‘And tells of the attack. Three Uryd warriors. There is rage and frenzied preparations.’ Bairoth allowed himself a small nod as he continued. ‘A hunt sets out, seeking three Uryd warriors. Who are on foot. The youth is certain on this. Had the Uryd had horses, they would have used them, of course. Three against eight, to do otherwise is madness. So the hunt confines itself, in what it seeks, in its frame of thought, in all things. Three Uryd warriors, on foot.’

  Delum had joined them, and now eyed Karsa without expression.

  Karsa said, ‘Delum Thord would speak.’

  ‘I would, Warleader. The youth, you have placed an image in his mind. It will harden there, its colours will not fade, but sharpen. The echo of screams will become louder in his skull. Familiar faces, frozen eternal in expressions of pain. This youth, Karsa Orlong, will become an adult. And he will not be content to follow, he will lead. He must lead; and none shall challenge his fierceness, the gleaming wood of his will, the oil of his desire. Karsa Orlong, you have made an enemy for the Uryd, an enemy to pale all we have known in the past.’

  ‘One day,’ Karsa said, ‘that Rathyd warleader shall kneel before me. This, I vow, here, on the blood of his kin, I so vow.’

  The air was suddenly chill. Silence hung in the glade except for the muted buzz of flies.

  Delum’s eyes were wide, his expression one of fear.

  Bairoth turned away. ‘That vow shall destroy you, Karsa Orlong. No Rathyd kneels before an Uryd. Unless you prop his lifeless corpse against a tree stump. You now seek the impossible, and that is a path to madness.’

  ‘One vow among many I have made,’ Karsa said. ‘And each shall be kept. Witness, if you dare.’

  Bairoth paused from studying the grey bear’s fur and defleshed skull—the Rathyd trophies—and glanced back at Karsa. ‘Do we have a choice?’

  ‘If you still breathe, then the answer is no, Bairoth Gild.’

  ‘Remind me to tell you one day, Karsa Orlong.’

  ‘Tell me of what?’

  ‘What life is like, for those of us in your shadow.’

  Delum stepped close to Karsa. ‘You have wounds that need mending, Warleader.’

  ‘Aye, but for now, only the sword-cut. We must return to our horses and ride.’

  ‘Like a Lanyd arrow.’

  ‘Aye, just so, Delum Thord.’

  Bairoth called out, ‘Karsa Orlong, I shall collect for you your trophies.’

  ‘Thank you, Bairoth Gild. We shall take that fur and skull, as well. You and Delum may keep those.’

  Delum turned to face Bairoth. ‘Take them, brother. The grey bear better suits you than me.’

  Bairoth nodded his thanks, then waved towards the dismembered warrior. ‘His ears and tongue are yours, Delum Thord.’

  ‘It is so, then.’

  Among the Teblor, the Rathyd bred the fewest horses; despite this, there were plenty of wide runs from glade to glade down which Karsa and his companions could ride. In one of the clearings they had come upon an adult and two youths tending to six destriers. They had ridden them down, blades flashing, pausing only to collect trophies and gather up the horses, each taking two on a lead. An hour before darkness fell, they came to a forking of the trail, rode down the lower of the two for thirty paces, then released the leads and drove the Rathyd horses on. The three Uryd warriors then slipped a single, short rope around the necks of their own mounts, just above the collar bones, and with gentle, alternating tugs walked them backwards until they reached the fork, whereupon they proceeded onto the higher trail. Fifty paces ahead, Delum dismounted and backtracked to obscure their trail.

  With the wheel taking shape overhead, they cut away from the rocky path and found a small clearing in which they made camp. Bairoth cut slices from the bear meat and they ate. Delum then rose to attend to the horses, using wet moss to wipe them down. The beasts were tired and left unhobbled to allow them to walk the clearing and stretch their necks.

  Examining his wounds, Karsa noted that they had already begun to knit. So it was among the Teblor. Satisfied, he found his flask of blood-oil and set to repairing his weapon. Delum rejoined them and he and Bairoth followed suit.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ Karsa said, ‘we leave this trail.’

  ‘Dow
n to the wider, easier ones in the valley?’ Bairoth asked.

  ‘If we are quick,’ Delum said, ‘we can pass through Rathyd land in a single day.’

  ‘No, we lead our horses higher, onto the goat and sheep trails,’ Karsa replied. ‘And we reverse our path for the length of the morning. Then we ride down into the valley once more. Bairoth Gild, with the hunt out, who will remain in the village?’

  The heavy man drew out his new bear cloak and wrapped it about himself before answering. ‘Youths. Women. The old and the crippled.’

  ‘Dogs?’

  ‘No, the hunt will have taken those. So, Warleader, we attack the village.’

  ‘Yes. Then we find the hunt’s trail.’

  Delum drew a deep breath and was slow in its release. ‘Karsa Orlong, the village of our victims thus far is not the only village. In the first valley alone there are at least three more. Word will go out. Every warrior will ready his sword. Every dog will be unleashed and sent out into the forest. The warriors may not find us, but the dogs will.’

  ‘And then,’ Bairoth growled, ‘there are three more valleys to cross.’

  ‘Small ones,’ Karsa pointed out. ‘And we cross them at the south ends, a day or more hard riding from the north mouths and the heart of the Rathyd lands.’

  Delum said, ‘There will be such a foment of anger pursuing us, Warleader, that they will follow us into the valleys of the Sunyd.’

  Karsa flipped the blade on his thighs to begin work on the other side. ‘So I hope, Delum Thord. Answer me this, when last have the Sunyd seen an Uryd?’

  ‘Your grandfather,’ Bairoth said.

  Karsa nodded. ‘And we well know the Rathyd warcry, do we not?’

  ‘You would start a war between the Rathyd and Sunyd?’

  ‘Aye, Bairoth.’

  The warrior slowly shook his head. ‘We are not yet done with the Rathyd, Karsa Orlong. You plan too far in advance, Warleader.’

  ‘Witness what comes, Bairoth Gild.’

  Bairoth picked up the bear skull. The lower jaw still hung from it by a single strip of gristle. He snapped it off and tossed it to one side. Then he drew out a spare bundle of leather straps. He began tightly wrapping the cheek bones, leaving long lengths dangling beneath.

  Karsa watched these efforts curiously. The skull was too heavy even for Bairoth to wear as a helm. Moreover, he would need to break the bone away on the underside, where it was thickest around the hole that the spinal cord made.

  Delum rose. ‘I shall sleep now,’ he announced, moving off.

  ‘Karsa Orlong,’ Bairoth said, ‘do you have spare straps?’

  ‘You are welcome to them,’ Karsa replied, also rising. ‘Be sure to sleep this night, Bairoth Gild.’

  ‘I will.’

  For the first hour of light they heard dogs in the forested valley floor below. These faded as they backtracked along a high cliffside path. When the sun was directly overhead, Delum found a downward wending trail and they began the descent.

  Midway through the afternoon, they came upon stump-crowded clearings and could smell the smoke of the village. Delum dismounted and slipped ahead.

  He returned a short while later. ‘As you surmised, Warleader. I saw eleven elders, thrice as many women, and thirteen youths—all very young, I imagine the older ones are with the hunt. No horses. No dogs.’ He climbed back onto his horse.

  The three Uryd warriors readied their swords. They then each drew out their flasks of blood-oil and sprinkled a few drops around the nostrils of their destriers. Heads snapped back, muscles tensed.

  ‘I have the right flank,’ Bairoth said.

  ‘And I the centre,’ Karsa announced.

  ‘And so I the left,’ Delum said, then frowned. ‘They will scatter from you, Warleader.’

  ‘I am feeling generous today, Delum Thord. This village shall be to the glory of you and Bairoth. Be sure that no-one escapes on the other side.’

  ‘None shall.’

  ‘And if any woman seeks to fire a house to turn the hunt, slay her.’

  ‘They would not be so foolish,’ Bairoth said. ‘If they do not resist they shall have our seed, but they shall live.’

  The three removed the reins from their horses and looped them around their waists. They edged further onto their mounts’ shoulders and drew their knees up.

  Karsa slipped his wrist through the sword’s thong and whirled the weapon once through the air to tighten it. The others did the same. Beneath him, Havok trembled.

  ‘Lead us, Warleader,’ Delum said.

  A slight pressure launched Havok forward, three strides into a canter, slow and almost loping as they crossed the stump-filled glade. A slight shifting to the left led them towards the main path. Reaching it, Karsa lifted his sword into the destrier’s range of vision. The beast surged into a gallop.

  Seven lengthening strides brought them to the village. Karsa’s companions had already split away to either side to come up behind the houses, leaving him the main artery. He saw figures there, directly ahead, heads turning. A scream rang through the air. Children scattered.

  Sword lashed out, chopped down easily through young bone. Karsa glanced to his right and Havok shifted direction, hoofs kicking out to gather in and trample an elder. They plunged onward, pursuing, butchering. On the far sides of the houses, beyond the refuse trenches, more screams sounded.

  Karsa reached the far end. He saw a single youth racing for the trees and drove after him. The lad carried a practice sword. Hearing the heavy thump of Havok’s charge closing fast—and with the safety of the forest still too far in front of him—he wheeled.

  Karsa’s swing cut through practice sword then neck. A head thrust from Havok sent the youth’s decapitated body sprawling.

  I lost a cousin in such a manner. Ridden down by a Rathyd. Ears and tongue taken. Body strung by one foot from a branch. The head propped beneath, smeared in excrement. The deed is answered. Answered.

  Havok slowed, then wheeled.

  Karsa looked back upon the village. Bairoth and Delum had done their slaughter and were now herding the women into the clearing surrounding the village hearth.

  At a trot, Havok carried him back into the village.

  ‘The chief’s own belong to me,’ Karsa announced.

  Bairoth and Delum nodded, and he could see their heightened spirits, from the ease with which they surrendered the privilege. Bairoth faced the women and gestured with his sword. A middle-aged, handsome woman stepped forward, followed by a younger version—a lass perhaps the same age as Dayliss. Both studied Karsa as carefully as he did them.

  ‘Bairoth Gild and Delum Thord, take your first among the others. I will guard.’

  The two warriors grinned, dismounted and plunged among the women to select one each. They vanished into separate houses, leading their prizes by the hand.

  Karsa watched with raised brows.

  The chief’s wife snorted. ‘Your warriors were not blind to the eagerness of those two,’ she said.

  ‘Their warriors, be they father or mate, will not be pleased with such eagerness,’ Karsa commented. Uryd women would not—

  ‘They will never know, Warleader,’ the chief’s wife replied, ‘unless you tell them, and what is the likelihood of that? They will spare you no time for taunts before killing you. Ah, but I see now,’ she added, stepping closer to stare up at his face. ‘You thought to believe that Uryd women are different, and now you realize the lie of that. All men are fools, but now you are perhaps a little less so, as truth steals into your heart. What is your name, Warleader?’

  ‘You talk too much,’ Karsa growled, then he drew himself straight. ‘I am Karsa Orlong, grandson of Pahlk—’

  ‘Pahlk?’

  ‘Aye.’ Karsa grinned. ‘I see you recall him.’

  ‘I was a child, but yes, he is well known among us.’

  ‘He lives still, and sleeps calm despite the curses you have laid upon his name.’

  She laughed. ‘Curses? There are
none. Pahlk bowed his head to beg passage through our lands—’

  ‘You lie!’

  She studied him, then shrugged. ‘As you say.’

  One of the women cried out from one of the houses, a cry more pleasure than pain.

  The chief’s wife turned her head. ‘How many of us will take your seed, Warleader?’

  Karsa settled back. ‘All of you. Eleven each.’

  ‘And how many days will that take? You want us to cook for you as well?’

  ‘Days? You think as an old woman. We are young. And, if need be, we have blood-oil.’

  The woman’s eyes widened. The others behind her began murmuring and whispering. The chief’s wife spun and silenced them with a look, then she faced Karsa once more. ‘You have never used blood-oil in this fashion before, have you? It is true, you will know fire in your loins. You will know stiffness for days to come. But, Warleader, you do not know what it will do to each of us women. I do, for I too was young and foolish once. Even my husband’s strength could not keep my teeth from his throat, and he carries the scars still. There is more. What for you will last less than a week, haunts us for months.’

  ‘And so,’ Karsa replied, ‘if we do not kill your husbands, you will upon their return. I am pleased.’

  ‘You three will not survive the night.’

  ‘It will be interesting, do you not think,’ Karsa smiled, ‘who among Bairoth, Delum and me will find need for it first.’ He addressed all the women. ‘I suggest to each of you to be eager, so you are not the first to fail us.’

  Bairoth appeared, nodded at Karsa.

  The chief’s wife sighed and waved her daughter forward.

  ‘No,’ Karsa said.

  The woman stopped, suddenly confused. ‘But . . . will you not want a child from this? Your first will carry the most seed—’

  ‘Aye, it will. Are you past bearing age?’

  After a long moment, she shook her head. ‘Karsa Orlong,’ she whispered, ‘you invite my husband to set upon you a curse—he will burn blood on the stone lips of Imroth herself.’