Kormak 01 - Stealer of Flesh

by William King

  “He did not lie,” said the nobleman.

  “I never for a moment thought so,” said Kormak.

  “Well that has certainly cleared the air,” said Tarsus. He coughed. Blood speckled his lips. He wiped it away with a napkin. The gesture was surprisingly delicate.

  “I am surprised you are taking the news so calmly,” said Kormak. He studied the table. There was a knife there intended for carving meat. It was not much of a weapon but it was better than none at all.

  “Obviously it is not news,” said Lord Tomas.

  “You won’t get away with it,” said Kormak. “If you kill me my order will send more to avenge me. They always do.”

  “Come, Sir Kormak,” said Tarsus. “If anyone here meant you ill, we could simply have left you to die in the snow. I would not have wasted my herbs on you if I had sought to do you harm.”

  The wizard, in particular, seemed to want to let Kormak know he was innocent of any evil intention.

  “You are my guest,” said Lord Tomas. “You have eaten my food, taken my salt. No harm will come to you here unless you try to harm us. On this I give my word.” He looked pointedly at Wesley as he said this.

  “Then I am confused,” said Kormak. “Do you intend to return the amphora and pay restitution to the families of the men who were killed?”

  “No, Sir Kormak, I do not. I do however have a proposition I would like to put to you. We can discuss it after dinner while we look at this ancient artefact you have come so far to recover.”

  “Well, what do you think?” Lord Tomas asked. He gestured at the amphora emphatically. It clearly had pride of place in his huge collection. Kormak looked around. He was reminded of the Museum in Tanaar. There was the same huge array of shelves with scrolls and alembics and crystal jars on them. A suit of gold-embossed runic armour, the complete war-gear of a Solari Centurion rested on a stand in one corner. There was the skeleton of some gigantic beast, a dragon perhaps, that had been reassembled and stood in one corner. Kormak wondered if his sword and the rest of his equipment were here. The place was certainly secure enough. Lord Tomas had triple-locked the massive metal doors that were the only entrance.

  Tomas looked from Kormak and back to his latest prize. Kormak noticed the eyes of all the others were upon him. Tarsus watched him closely, Wesley with malice in his eyes. Lady Kathea had withdrawn to her chambers, not part of the conspiracy or perhaps that was what they wanted him to think.

  He moved closer to the object and inspected it.

  It looked like a simple metal alembic, made from lead. It was inscribed with Elder Signs and stoppered with a plug of truesilver. The plug was sealed with metal, soldered shut. There was writing on the side. Kormak recognised one of the seals on the side of the flask and he could decipher the inscription. In part it was a name; Razhak. He suspected that he was far from the only person in the room who could do that.

  “This is an evil thing,” he said, at last. Lord Tomas’s eyes were feverishly bright.

  “Then you think it is one of the Binding Flasks of King Solareon. As I do.”

  “It is difficult to be sure without performing certain tests,” Kormak said. Lord Tomas picked up the flask and handled it as another man might handle a baby.

  “I would not do that if I were you,” Kormak said. “There is a taint in that thing that might leak out and affect you.”

  Lord Tomas put it back on the marble counter-top and placed the crystal shield on top of it once more. “You can see why I am excited, can’t you?” He spoke as if this was the most reasonable thing in the world to say, and Kormak began to wonder about his sanity, about the sanity of all the people present in this vast sepulchral chamber.

  “I am not sure excitement is the correct emotion to feel,” Kormak said. “Dread would perhaps be more appropriate.”

  “Come now, Sir Kormak,” said Lord Tomas. “Surely a man of your order is not afraid. I have always heard the Guardians of the Dawn enjoyed the special protection of the Holy Sun. Of all of us, you have the least to worry about from the contents of that flask.”

  “There is a demon in it,” Kormak said. “A demon of a particularly potent sort; one that was bound by Solareon more than a millennium ago.”

  Lord Tomas looked at him. “There is a Ghul confined in that bottle, Sir Kormak. I would not call it a demon in the sense that most people would understand the word.”

  “It is immortal, inimical to Men and will perform acts of the greatest wickedness if freed,” said Kormak. “I would say that fits most people’s understanding of what a demon is.”

  “But you and I know differently. The Ghuls were once men like us,” said Lord Tomas.

  Kormak shook his head. “They were servants of the Old Ones who rebelled against them but they were not men.”

  “They were mortals then, and they seized the secret of immortality from their masters.”

  Kormak thought he began to understand the cause of Lord Tomas’s excitement and the direction this conversation was going to take. “We do not know that for certain,” Kormak said. “We know only what the Sage Cronas wrote.”

  “But Cronas sat at the right hand of Solareon, and Solareon was the greatest wizard who ever lived.”

  “All the more reason not to trifle with his work.”

  “Your blade could destroy a Ghul, could it not, Sir Kormak?”

  “Is that what you would have me do?”

  “Eventually, yes,” said Lord Tomas.

  “But first you have questions to ask of the monster,” said Kormak. “Questions concerning the nature of its immortality and how it might be achieved.”

  “Exactly so,” said Lord Tomas.

  “We already know how the Stealers of Flesh achieved their immortality,” said Kormak. “They take possession of the bodies of other living things and consume their life force. They are vampires of a most awful sort.”

  “Yes but in the Codicils to the Deed of Solareon Cronas writes that it was not always so. That the Ghul sought the same form of immortality as the Old Ones and that something went wrong with the process. Cronas sat with his master while Solareon questioned the bound demons.”

  “Then you have read works by the Sage that my teachers never did,” said Kormak.

  “Your order had no monopoly on ancient knowledge, Guardian,” said Lord Tomas. “There are far more books in the world than exist even in the library at Aethelas. I have some of them on my shelves here.”

  “And some of them are filled with traps set to lure men to their doom,” said Kormak.

  “Spoken like a true witch-finder,” said Tarsus.

  “I have had experience of such things, have you?” Kormak said.

  “That is why we want you with us,” said Lord Tomas. “With your knowledge and your blade there will be no missteps. We will be able to question the demon in safety.”

  “You think I will help you learn how to transform yourselves into Stealers of Flesh? That is insane,” said Kormak. He could not keep his true thoughts hidden. The words were torn from him.

  “You misunderstand our intentions, Sir Kormak,” said Tarsus. “We seek no such thing.”

  “Tarsus speaks the truth,” said Lord Tomas. “We seek to learn what the demon knows, that is true, but we also seek to learn what went wrong. The Ghul must possess a fantastic amount of knowledge. It may put us on the path to immortality. We can learn where they went wrong, avoid their errors and perhaps all men will be able to live forever.”

  There was total compelling belief in his voice. Kormak realised to his astonishment that the nobleman meant every word he was saying. He was quite sincere, and possibly quite mad.

  “I do not think that is possible,” said Kormak.

  “But the Ghuls did,” said Tomas. “And they went more than halfway towards achieving it. Think of the possibilities, Sir Kormak. I mean really think of them. Think what might be achieved here.”

  All of them were watching him closely and it came to him then that any refusal on his
part might have fatal consequences. They would not want him free to oppose them, if he turned them down. At this moment in time, weak as he was, he was sure he could overcome a wizard and an ancient nobleman. Wesley might prove more of a problem. And then what? He would be sick and trapped in the mansion having committed murder. Kormak wondered if he should play along at least until he got his weapons back. Something of his doubts must have showed in his face, for the nobleman looked at him sidelong.

  “I do not think what you wish to do is possible,” said Kormak. He knew they had seen his doubts earlier and he doubted he could convince them he had suddenly changed his mind. Perhaps, if he seemed to be convinced…

  A wintery smile flickered across Lord Tomas’s face. “You may be right, Sir Kormak. You may be. But what if you are not? This could be the eve of the greatest discovery ever made by men. If you are wrong, all of our names will ring down the ages, even yours, for you will be part of this thing.”

  “You intend to free a demon bound by Solareon,” said Kormak. Even if he was going to pretend to let them convince him, he was going to make them fight for it. “They were imprisoned for a reason.”

  “Even Solareon interrogated them and he did that too for a reason. They have much lost knowledge. Much knowledge that men have never possessed at all.”

  “And Solareon found nothing,” Kormak said. He kept his voice calm. “He learned nothing. What makes you think you can succeed when the greatest wizard in history failed?”

  “Because great as he was Solareon did not possess the sum total of all wisdom. We have learned new things. We have parts of the puzzle he did not. Given time we could be greater even than Solareon. Or are you one of those men who think our ancestors were titans who could never be exceeded? I can assure you they were not. They were men just like us. Even Solareon. I have studied their works enough to know.”

  “Don’t you see that if you unleash this creature it will work terrible evil on the world?”

  “If we unleashed it uncontrolled, that might well be the case. But we have the means to compel it. We have your sword, a thing that Solareon did not. We have the means to end its life, a weapon that will prove inevitably fatal to the Ghul if we use it. It will obey us or it will die. And there is your answer, Sir Kormak. If we succeed, we triumph. If we fail, we will kill it and there will be one less demon free in the world. Even you cannot object to that.”

  “I need time to consider,” said Kormak.”

  “Promise me you will think about what I have asked,” said Lord Tomas reaching out and clutching Kormak’s arm. His grip was surprisingly strong. His eyes glittered. Kormak realised there was more than just excitement in his manner. He was afraid. Given what he was contemplating, that was only natural. “But we have kept you too long. It is late and you must retire and regain your strength. You will need it soon.”

  One way or another he was right, Kormak thought.

  When he heard the strange knock, Kormak rose grasped the poker and walked over to the door. He unbarred the door and was not entirely surprised to see the Lady Kathea standing there. She had a night-light in her hand.

  “May I come in?” she asked. Her hair was unbound. There were traces of cosmetics on her face. The pupils of her eyes seemed very large and reflected the light she held.

  “This is your home.” She took that as an assent and walked by him, close enough so that he could smell her perfume. The fabric of her long dress brushed against him as she walked. She went over to the fire and stood beside it.

  “So they have asked you to help them?” she said.

  “Lady?”

  She turned and looked at him over her shoulder. “They have asked you to help them with the ancient prison they have found. The one with the demon in it.”

  Kormak just looked at her, not sure where this was going. She spoke to fill the silence as he had known she would.

  “I am curious. Will you help them? Are you tempted?”

  “How do you know what your husband seeks?”

  “Because he is my husband. I know what he dwells upon. I know his obsessions. I know the books of poetry he reads. I know what he dreams of. He was not the sort of man who would seek glory on a battlefield but this represents glory of another sort.”

  “You think he wants glory?”

  “I think he dreams a dream that has been dreamt by others in the past, never to good effect.”

  “You do not approve?”

  “At first I thought it was a fancy, like many of his others. He has developed some obsessions in the past, Sir Kormak. With alchemy, with ancient books and lore. I can see now that all of those obsessions led him to this. I never really expected it to go anywhere. But then his agents located that flask and the wizard and he seems determined to go ahead with his plan.”

  “And you think I should help him?”

  “I think he will proceed whether you help him or not.”

  “I sense you do not approve of this.”

  “It is madness, Sir Kormak. Surely you can see this? The others, they do not. They are all caught up in it. Lord Tomas can be a very persuasive man. We are in a world where he commands everything and a long way from anywhere else. This place has its own deceptive reality. It swallows you up, devours all common sense if you stay long enough.”

  “Except in your case, apparently.”

  She smiled sadly. “You don’t believe me?”

  “I am wondering why you have chosen to confide your doubts in me, so soon after the matter was discussed with your husband. It seems a trifle convenient.”

  “You are a very suspicious man.”

  “Being so has helped keep me alive.”

  “I am sure that is the case, given the life you lead.”

  “I will not be allowed to leave here alive if I do not aid your husband. Telling you I planned not to help him would undoubtedly shorten my life.”

  “You think I will report what you say to my husband? Is that what you think?” There was anger in her voice. She moved closer to him, looked up into his eyes. Their bodies were almost touching.

  “Won’t you?” She swallowed but her face was calm. Her lips were slightly parted. With her head held back he could not help but notice the way her hair tumbled down her back.

  “I doubt it would make much difference. My husband has given his word not to harm you and I am sure he will keep it.”

  “Telling me anything different would be foolish.”

  “You do not know Tomas like I do. He is a man who keeps his word. Even if he was not, he fears the vengeance of your order. A man who plans to live forever would be foolish to court the enmity of an organisation with the will and the power to terminate his unending existence.”

  “People are rarely so logical when they are afraid.”

  “My husband is.”

  “You are saying that if I tell him I would not help, he will let me go?”

  “I said he would not kill you. I suspect he would hold you here until he has achieved his goal. I also think he would borrow the use of your sword and your amulets. My husband is a bold man in his own way, and a wealthy one, and he is used to getting his way.”

  There was something in the way she said it that made him realise she resented her husband very much. He suspected that she was probably telling him the truth as she saw it as well.

  “You know this and you think I should try and stop him?”

  “I have read of Solareon and his war with the Ghul. That flask was sealed for a reason. You know that and I know that. Tomas knows it too. He just chooses to ignore it because he believes he is immune to the consequences that normal mortals must face. And why should he not? For all of his life he has been.”

  “Let us, for the sake of argument, assume that I believe you. How am I supposed to stop your husband, when I am weak and he has a keep full of men at arms, and a sorcerer at his disposal? I suspect your husband has some skill in that field as well.”

  “Tarsus is old and weak and not long for this wo
rld.”

  “All the more reason for him to seek the secrets of immortality. He is in desperate need of them. He wants what that amphora can give him.”

  “Wanting something and having the strength to seize it are two different things,” she said. She let her dress slip from her shoulder. She was naked beneath and very beautiful. She moved closer. Her breasts flattened against his chest. She put a finger on his lips. He reached forward and grabbed her lush hair with his fist and twisted. She stood on her tip-toes, a faint moan emerged from her parted lips. She simply looked into his eyes knowingly.

  He threw her on the bed and pushed his weight down on top of her. She welcomed him willingly.

  “Why do you hate your husband?” Kormak asked, as they lay naked on the bed. She smiled at him lazily.

  “Is that what you think this is about?”

  “Isn’t it?”

  She looked away. The fire had died down. “In part, I suppose. My husband bought me from my brother, in return for my brother’s position as his factor. I was just another thing he collected and then lost interest in. Now I am here, in this isolated place, where no one knows me or respects me, with a man whose indifference is worse than dislike. I am a prisoner here, Sir Kormak, in much the same way as you are.”

  “So you admit I am a prisoner.”

  “You will be treated with every courtesy but you will not be allowed to leave until you have done what my husband requires.”

  “You said he fears the enmity of my order.”

  “We are a long way from Mount Aethelas and your order will not investigate unless you die or are a long time returning. Is that not so?”

  Kormak nodded. “You have no weapons and your horse will be found to be lame. Reasons will be given to put off your departure. Unless you force the matter, you will not be physically restrained.”

  “And if I give your husband the help he seeks?”

  “Are you tempted to?” She sounded worried.

  “Your husband is a rich man. He might reward me well for his help. By the Sun, he might make me immortal.”

  “You don’t really think that is possible, do you?”

  “It may be.”