Shadow of the Serpent

by Shannah Jay

  The scout was still standing rigid with fear, but Kensin ran forward to catch his granddaughter in his arms.

  'Brother, I thank you,' he murmured. 'Through me and mine you have worked your will. I’m honoured that my line has found such favour.' He gestured to the scout who’d moved forward to join him. 'Can you carry her to the wagon, my friend? I'm getting a bit old to do that sort of thing.'

  Before he stood up, Kensin stroked the tangle of hair back from Katia's forehead and pressed a kiss there.

  'It was worth the pain of losing you,' he murmured. 'Our Brother works for the good of all.' And joy shone from his face, joy and certainty. They would hold the High Alder. Suddenly he was sure of that. They would hold the Serpent at bay.

  CHAPTER 22 HASHITE WAYS

  Benjan strode along beside the wagon, breathing deeply and enjoying the untainted air of the wildwoods.

  They’d left Tenebrak several days previously and were now heading north. It was a long way to the High Alder, a long way to survive in enemy territory. He’d been hoping the deleff would take them through one of their portals, but there was no sign of that. The deleff which were pulling their wagon were a young pair and were plodding along at what seemed to him a slow pace. Well, at least they were using hidden tracks, not the normal routes between villages and towns.

  Carryn came up beside him and slipped her hand in his. 'Don't you just love the wildwoods?'

  'I've learned to love them. But I love Tenebrak more.' He’d been surprised at how much it had hurt to leave his city for a second time, especially with the Hashite Guild in retreat. Everything in him cried out to help his kithanfolk in their time of need. But his Brother needed him, too, and that need was more urgent. He knew that.

  It was almost as if Carryn was reading his thoughts. 'We can go back to live in Tenebrak one day, Benjan, once we've defeated the Serpent.' She walked beside him in silence for a while, then said thoughtfully, 'I wonder how the deleff manage to keep these tracks passable and yet not disturb the wildwoods. When humans pass regularly through the wildwoods, some of the plants shrivel and die and gradually the wildwoods turn into forests. You can see the difference quite clearly. But that doesn't seem to happen with the deleff.'

  Evren and Lerina came up behind them as she was speaking. He looked a different person from the pale, haunted youth who’d rescued them from Castle Dalbrak.

  'How are you feeling today, Evren?' Carryn returned his smile, thinking that although his resemblance to his father was strong, yet his expression was sweet and untainted by the evil that possessed his father. She’d grown fond of him already, and knew that Lerina regarded him as a true brother.

  'I'm feeling better than I have for years. In fact, better than I have since my father took me away from my mother as a child.' He gave a deep sigh of pleasure. 'These few days have been like a time of renewal, haven't they? I suppose we'll have to face Those of the Serpent again and we may not escape their wrath in the end, but this period in the wildwoods has been wonderful.'

  Carryn stared at him in amazement. Was that why they hadn’t used any portals? she wondered suddenly, to give him time to recover.

  'We shall most definitely defeat Those of the Serpent,' corrected Benjan. 'Don't even think about Those of the Serpent winning, lad. They won't. We'll make absolutely sure they don't. To admit to doubt is to create a weakness in yourself, as I keep telling you.'

  Benjan had soon lost the reverence bred in him for a Lord Claimant Elect and had started to treat Evren like a new recruit to the Guild, coaching him in fighting and self-defence methods, and trying to build up his confidence.

  'I still find that hard to believe,' Evren admitted. 'Always, before, my father has recaptured me when I’ve escaped. Always.'

  'Well, he won't recapture you this time.'

  A little later, the track came out of the wildwoods, and they exchanged glances of disappointment. Soon they came to a junction and the deleff pulled the wagon to the left. Now they were travelling through forestland. Some of the more delicate plants of the wildwoods, especially the trellis vine, were no longer to be seen, and the undergrowth wasn’t quite as lush. The changes were small, but very noticeable if you knew what to look for.

  'There must be a settlement nearby,' said Benjan, who had grown very alert. 'I'd like to walk ahead and check things out, if you don't mind.'

  As if they’d heard and understood, the deleff came to a halt and walked out of their harness, then ambled across and started browsing on the low shiverleaf shrubs they loved best of all the plants.

  'I doubt there's any danger nearby,' said Carryn, 'or the deleff would have left us.'

  'Nonetheless,' said Benjan, 'I shall go to check ahead and you will all stay here.' He caught hold of her shoulder for a moment and turned her to face him squarely. 'You hear me, Carryn?'

  She pulled a face at him, but her eyes were dancing with amusement. 'Very well, Prime Craftsman Elect.

  We'll prepare a hearty meal while we're waiting for you. I'm tired of cold journey food. A nice warming stew, do you think?'

  He let go, grinned now and slapped his belly. 'I wouldn't say no. There's a lot of me to maintain and I've a hunger on me for meat. Can you manage?'

  She mimed shock. 'Do you really think Cheral left me untrained in camp skills during all the time we travelled together?'

  'I rarely know what to think about you, my love. Especially lately.' They exchanged warm glances.

  Although unconsummated as yet, their love was very visible.

  Benjan left his companions and strode ahead along the path. When it joined yet another track and the forest gave way to farmlands, he began to walk more circumspectly, moving in the forest parallel with the track whenever he could, using the vegetation for cover as Katia had taught him. He wasn’t a woodsman born and bred, but he was a quick learner and like all of them, had profited from his time journeying across the land to learn new skills.

  Soon he began to get that prickling, uneasy sensation that always warned him of the proximity of danger.

  He loosened his sword in its scabbard and trod even more circumspectly, but he didn’t go back. He needed to find out what lay ahead. That was his responsibility, his trade.

  Faintly on the breeze came shouts and cries. As he got closer, they resolved into sounds he would recognise anywhere. People were fighting, and fighting hard, from the sounds of it.

  He reached the village and crept forward, using the long shadows of a woodland evening to hide him from prying eyes. The houses were set quite far apart and scattered along the single street in random fashion. It must have been a cosy little place, but now one of the houses at this end of the street was burning fiercely and smoke was coming from another nearby.

  As he stared ahead, the hair on the back of his neck prickled. Those of the Serpent! He’d recognise that taint anywhere. His fingers itched to take out his sword, but he couldn’t rush into the fray, for behind him were three young people who depended on him for their very survival. No, two young people and Carryn, who now seemed much older than her years. She’d grown up a lot lately, his little love had.

  He found a safe place from which to observe the fighting, which was concentrated in front of two or three houses at the far end of the street. It looked to be a close contest. Those of the Serpent were being resisted by a lusty group of men and women, all fighting together, and Benjan's heart went out to them. That was how Those of the Hashite Guild fought, whether they were men or women, united, protecting one another's backs.

  The women in this group were armed mainly with household implements and had their skirts kilted up, but they looked strong. They were fighting behind their menfolk, as was sensible since they had no proper weapons.

  But the whole group was retreating step by step, being driven back slowly by foes better trained in battle skills, by foes who were surrounded by a dark miasma of evil that made Benjan's lips curl in revulsion.

  His eyes narrowed. Was it possible that he might lend the
m some assistance? He waited, assessing the struggle. Several times he saw rocks and other missiles curve out from the few houses still untouched by Those of the Serpent. Children and oldfolk in there, he would guess, and nowhere else to flee. He couldn’t, for the life of him, stay out of it and besides, it felt right to help them.

  Brother, look down! he prayed as he started creeping round the back of the houses. He passed another building that was starting to burn hotly and made a detour to avoid its betraying light, before skirting round the attackers to get to the defenders.

  At one house corner, just near the fighting, he nearly bumped into a man in a long dark robe, a man who was preparing to shoot an arrow into the rear of the defenders. Without hesitation, Benjan thumped him into oblivion and crept on.

  At the rear of another house, he came upon two children gathering pebbles and stones from the garden.

  They looked up and wailed in horror at the sight of a huge armed man. Quickly he spread his arms wide to show he meant no harm, then gestured to them to be silent.

  'I'm not of the Serpent,' he whispered. 'How many in the house?'

  'Ten of us children and five of the oldfolk,' whispered the girl, who seemed to be the elder of the pair.

  'We're trying to help all we can, gathering stones for our slings.' She blinked away a tear. 'But my grandfather's been killed and they're gaining ground.' She scrubbed at her face. 'I won't weep like a baby!' she declared in a wobbly voice.

  'No,' he agreed, 'better if you help me work out how to aid your people.'

  'Are there others following you?' The boy's face was alight with hope.

  'No. There's just me.'

  The boy's face fell.

  'But I'm a trained fighter, of the Hashite Guild, and I know a few useful tricks. Take me inside, will you?'

  The girl's expression suddenly turned to terror and she pointed behind him. 'Watch out!'

  The boy picked up a large stone, but before he could throw it, Benjan had moved and captured his would-be assailant. This man was a good, trained fighter, but Benjan was better. They struggled briefly for possession of the dagger, then Benjan managed to twist the man's arm quickly so that the blade slid into his chest. A finger of darkness seemed to lick upwards out of the ground to catch the dying man's pain, a subliminal throbbing, with a hungry feel to it.

  'Brother, forgive me!' Benjan murmured and spread his hands across the dying man. The finger of darkness writhed backwards across the soft earth, then vanished altogether as the man breathed his last.

  'Right, here's what we'll do,' said Benjan, utterly committed now to helping the villagers.

  Five minutes later he erupted into view between two of the beleaguered houses. 'To me, here!' he yelled, gesturing behind him. 'We're just in time.'

  There was a noise of distant footsteps and nerids' hoofbeats. The group of dark-clad attackers hesitated, then disengaged from the battle. 'We'll be back!' yelled their leader. 'And next time you won't escape our dread lord's need.' They fled through the burning village.

  The man who seemed to have been leading the defenders came forward to greet Benjan, staring curiously down the alley where the noise had now died down. 'Your friends seem a long time joining you.'

  Benjan shrugged and smiled. 'Actually, I don't have any friends following me. The noise was made by your children and oldfolk, with a few of your animals.'

  The man's face fell in disappointment. 'Then Those of the Serpent will soon be back.'

  'Not for a while. There's time yet for your people to leave, my friend, and seek shelter elsewhere.'

  'Where else is there?' the man asked bitterly, as one of the women ripped a piece off her petticoat and began binding a slash on his arm. 'This is the last of our three villages. All the survivors are here. There are no other villages in this part of the claim who dare to resist, now that the shrine in Salerik has decreed that all able men shall make sacrifice.'

  'Have you not done so before?'

  'No. We managed to negotiate fines instead. We're workers in iron and steel. We can’t work the metal properly with the fumes from that incense clouding our brains. And besides, we have ever followed Sisterhood ways here in the forests.'

  Benjan stared around at the group of people listening to them. The rest of the oldfolk and children had limped out of the houses to join them. 'Set a watch on the track from Salerik, then,' he said curtly, 'and pack your things quickly.'

  'The forests round here aren't deep enough to hide us,' one woman said, brushing her hair away from her forehead with fingers that trembled. 'We came here to the hills a few years ago to escape the Serpent, but they found out where we were and came after us. They still need our skills.'

  'Iron and steel,' said Benjan thoughtfully. 'Weapon makers, too?'

  'At need,' the spokesman said curtly, 'and good weapons, too. Though we prefer not to make tools of destruction.' He stretched across to the sword which Benjan was still holding in his hand. 'An' I mistake not, that's one of my father's blades. See the double star on the hilt.'

  'Samfor,' Benjan said.

  One of the oldsters came forward. 'I made it, then.' He fumbled for Benjan's arm with one hand and raised his sightless eyes. 'What be your name, fellow?'

  'Benjan. Of the Hashite Guild.'

  'Ah! I remember you now. Great big fellow. Third rank. I always did prefer to make for those of the Third Rank.' His hand fell away and one tear rolled down his cheek. 'But now that the milky blindness has taken my eyesight, I'll make no more. Sad pity, that. I'd relish making blades that would spit Those of the Serpent like the scum deserve. I never wanted to make weapons before, but I would now if I still had my sight. Oh, I'd make good sharp blades. But without a Sister Healer, I'll never see again.'

  A feeling that had been growing up in Benjan would no longer be denied. 'And if a Sister Healer could be found to mend your eyes, would you join in our Brother's cause?'

  'Aye. With all my heart.'

  Benjan turned to the younger man. 'Gather your things quickly and come with me. Bring your tools and equipment. Leave your trinkets and household goods behind.'

  'But where can we go?'

  'I can't tell you now. Will you trust me?'

  The woman stepped forward. 'Trust him, husband.' She looked at Benjan. 'I speak for the women. We'll come with you, stranger.'

  The man looked around at his battle-worn companions and nodded. 'We'll all come with you gladly, Benjan the Hashite. Better to die fighting than live under the Serpent's rule. My name's Trenfor and I'm Elder of this village. As is my wife, Elina.'

  Benjan nodded to them both. 'Right, then. We can't delay a minute. That trick we played won't hold those devils for long. They'll send someone to creep back and check what we're doing.'

  Within an hour Benjan and the villagers were making their way back through the forest lands. He, Trenfor and a few of the younger men and women were now wearing sleeveless chainmail jerkins, a protection the villagers hadn’t had time to don before. 'Your women fight alongside you, then?' Benjan asked as they walked.

  'Needs must in these troubled times,' said Elina, who was wearing a jerkin and a light helmet. 'Samfor was a well-known armourer till his sight started deteriorating. Those of the Serpent needed him before, but they had no use for him then. Still, he's helped us make a few pieces for ourselves . He says he can hear the quality of the steel when Trenfor works it. We knew we couldn’t long remain unnoticed, you see. We knew we'd have to fight. I'm sorry we didn't have a helmet for you, Benjan.'

  He grinned. ' At my size I usually have to have things made specially. It was a miracle you had a jerkin big enough to go round me.'

  'New design,' she said curtly. 'Adaptable to a few body sizes. I'd rather make cooking knives, though.'

  'You're a smith, too?'

  'Yes. We women of the iron hills have always worked alongside our men. It's one of the things Those of the Serpent hate most about us. We hoped their need for weapons would reconcile them to it, but we were wrong.
As we were wrong to make new settlements so close to the old. We should have gone beyond the Twelve Claims, to the high reaches. But we thought - ' she hesitated and looked sideways at him, afraid of giving offence.

  'You thought Those of the Serpent couldn’t prevail.'

  She nodded.

  'They shall not.' His voice was quiet, but utterly determined. 'We of the Sisterhood have become a Kindred once more, men and women both chosen to serve our God. And our Brother is walking with us. Those of Evil shall not prevail!' He was staring blindly into the distance, so he didn’t see her exchange glances with her husband, glances which spoke of lingering doubt.

  When they got to the wagon, they found that Carryn had a cauldron of hot stew loaded on the back in a chain sling, and that the deleff were already in their harness ready to leave.

  'Well done, lass,' said Benjan. 'We need to get away as quickly as we can.'

  Carryn nodded to the two deleff. 'They suddenly got restless and moved into their harness. So we packed up.' She spoke calmly. No sign of panic, a woman working with her man in times of danger. She had indeed grown up.

  He introduced the three of them to the ironworkers then he addressed them all. 'Follow us and you'll have a chance at least of reaching safety, my friends. There isn't enough hot food for everyone, but we can feed your children as we walk, and give you all some journey biscuits. Follow our wagon as closely as you can.

  Don't fall behind. If there's a problem keeping up, call out.' He grabbed the piece of bread Carryn was holding out to him and dipped it into the stew, scooping up some meat and tasting with pleasure the rich flavour of the reconstituted dried meat that all traders carried with them. His eyes met Carryn's across the cauldron.

  'When we stop, my little love, I'll ask you to make us all another meal. Now, feed the children as we travel, while I return to guard our rear.'