The Black Knife

by Christopher Nuttall

  Eric said nothing as they inspected two more houses, finding nothing apart from a tiny stuffed doll made out of cloth. Hind picked it up and placed it within her cloak, carrying it away from the deserted house. Eric thought about pointing out that that was theft, but he was starting to understand that none of the villagers would ever be coming back. He followed her up towards the four larger buildings in the centre of the village, noting a building that had clearly belonged to the headman, a pair of warehouses and a temple, one dedicated to a god he had never heard of. That wasn’t uncommon; there were literally thousands of gods within the pantheon of Touched. The temple struck him as remarkably fine for such a poor village, but Hind wasn't surprised.

  “You’d be amazed at some of the temples in places like this,” she said. Her voice had gone bitter and cynical again. “The priests are fond of telling the villagers that if they make enough sacrifices to the gods, work hard and obey their Lords, they will be rewarded after they die. Every week, they would have been told that to do otherwise would cast them into one of the many worlds of the damned.” She chuckled humourlessly. “Whenever one of these places rises in revolt, it’s always the priest who gets his head chopped off first.”

  Eric reached out for her again and she came into his arms, pressing her head into his shoulder. He held her as she shook against him, before looking up at him, her eyes still shadowed by the horror she’d seen. Eric gently kissed her lips and was surprised by the passion in her response; she pulled him close and kissed him as hard as she could. Her breasts heaved against him and he was suddenly aware of her desire, a desire that had remained unsatisfied for long enough. The passion built up within him and he found his hands roaming down her back to her rear, before he pulled away from her with a snap.

  “We’re supposed to be brother and sister,” he reminded himself, feeling a mixture of lust and frustration. Hind shared the same feelings. A moment later, they shared a laugh. They’d been married for nearly three weeks and they hadn’t ever slept together! “Damn it. Next time, let’s choose a different cover.”

  Hind laughed aloud, a deep-throated laugh, as they completed checking out the village. Nothing moved within it, not even a bird or any tame animals. The temple, when they looked inside, was surprisingly dignified, but someone had clearly stripped some things from the interior. Hind wondered aloud what they might be as she searched through the building, but there was no clue to answer her question.

  “Bandits, perhaps,” she said, finally. She didn't sound as if she believed herself. Eric could still feel a watching presence nearby, as if something was moving behind him when he wasn't looking. He looked up towards the statue in the heart of the temple, a feminine figure with short stubby wings, and shuddered. The angel’s expression was thoroughly unpleasant. If the villagers had worshipped that...but then, in his experience, people would worship anything. Some of the gods had shapes and forms that were horrific beyond belief. He didn't want to turn his back on the statue. Whatever god it was, he had the feeling that he didn't want to look away from it. “Or perhaps they just picked up and left.”

  Eric blinked. “Does that happen?”

  Hind nodded. “Anyone who grows up in a place like this knows how to survive on the mountainside,” she said, sourly. “They could just have decided to desert the village rather than continue to work for the Lords, or try to revolt against their rule...not that it would have worked anyway. Before a revolt got too badly out of control, the Lords would have sent in the magicians and put a stop to it by main force.”

  “If the tax gatherers couldn't do it,” Eric guessed.

  “Sometimes even if the tax gatherers did it,” Hind said. “There are kingdoms were it is forbidden to hunt deer or unicorns, but it is perfectly legal to hunt commoners. They used to have hunts where the condemned men were told that if they could stay alive for an hour, or get across a finishing line, they would be free to go. I never heard of anyone actually being freed.”

  “That’s sick,” Eric burst out. “How can they do it?”

  Hind looked up at him. “They can do it because they can do it,” she said. “Who is there to say them nay?”

  She held up a hand before Eric could speak. “Wait,” she said, sharply. “What is that noise?”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Hind heard...something right at the edge of her perception. It was faint, yet somehow audible, something...attractive. It called to her, taunted her, promised everything in the universe if only she could hear it properly...she listened and tried to make it out, yet something was in the way. If only she could get closer, and closer, and closer...

  “Hind,” a voice said. She was vaguely aware of a hand shaking her, but it was somehow unimportant. “Hind!”

  A sharp slap exploded against her bottom. She came back to herself with a shock, suddenly discovering that she was on the verge of walking through the door and out into the village. She could still hear the haunting lure, but now she knew what it was she could tune it out, using her wards to protect her from being enraptured again. She rubbed her bottom, vaguely aware of pain floating through her face as well. The lure, whatever it was, had been strong.

  Eric was holding her arm, tightly enough to hurt. “Hind,” he repeated. “Are you all right?”

  Hind took a moment before answering, cursing herself for a fool. She’d neglected basic precautions and had almost been caught by a lure. There might be no sirens – dark mermaids – anywhere near the village, but sirens weren't the only creatures that lured their prey to them through a hypnotic song. If Eric hadn’t been there...if he hadn't raised a hand to her, she might not have been able to break free on her own without help. The greatest danger of such lures lay in the fact that their victims were unable to understand that they had to fight.

  “Yes,” she said, bitterly. A more overt attempt at mind control would have been impossible against her wards, unless someone managed to break them down without killing her first. The subtle attack had gone right through them like a knife through butter. A thought occurred to her and she looked up at her husband. “Why aren't you affected?”

  Eric brandished Morningstar as if it were a talisman against evil...which, in a sense, it was. “I just couldn't hear it properly,” he said. “The sword shielded me.”

  “And saved us both,” Hind said. She had no way of knowing which of the legends about the Great Swords were true and which ones had been made up over the years, but she looked down at the glowing blade anyway. “Thank you, Morningstar.”

  Eric grinned. “I think its saying you’re welcome,” he said, as the blade twitched in the air. “Don’t you think we should be seeing to the others?”

  Hind swore and ran out of the temple, casting a searching spell ahead of her. It wasn't necessary. The entire convoy, with a single exception, was marching through the village and out towards a rocky track leading up into the mountainside. The single exception, Branet, was pulling at her father’s hand, trying to convince him to stop. Bran showed no reaction at all to his daughter’s agitation; he didn’t push her away, or try to convince her to listen to the lure. That, more than anything else, proved that something was badly wrong. Bran was a kind-hearted man and would have sought to comfort his daughter – anyone’s daughter – if she came to him with a tear-streaked face. Instead, he was just marching on.

  “Please, help,” Branet begged, when she saw Hind. Her face was contorted, as if she were in pain. Hind frowned, trying to understand. Could it be possible that Branet was somehow immune to the call, or if there was something odd about her that diminished the call’s effect? The girl certainly had some magical potential...she pushed the thought aside and ran over to Bran. Up close, he should have reacted to her presence, but there was nothing. She focused her mind, casting a light spell, yet there was no reaction. Bran was a prisoner within his own mind.

  “I’m trying,” Hind said, summoning a second spell. Fire danced along the edges of her fingertips, casting an eerie light over the scene, ye
t Bran didn’t flinch. Hind turned the heat up as much as she dared, but there was still no effect. “Can you not hear anything?”

  Branet looked up at her, her dark eyes pleading silently for help. “They just went all funny,” she said. She sounded terrified and Hind couldn't blame her. Branet was too young to be alone in the world. “Mum...mum was busy and suddenly she was all funny and just walked off and the rest of them went the same way.”

  Her voice broke suddenly. “Can’t you do something?”

  Hind looked at her, put two and two together, and smiled inwardly. “Here,” Eric said. He stepped forward, drew back his hand and slapped Bran hard across the face. The sound was loud enough to make Hind jump, but Bran still showed no reaction. A dark red mark materialised along the edge of his face, fading slowly away to nothing. If he felt any pain from Eric’s blow, he showed no sign of it at all. He was so deeply in trance that nothing they could do could awaken him.

  The entranced convoy walked out of the village and started up the rocky path. It was a path that would have daunted many a city-dweller, but they showed as much confidence and competence as a mountain goat. At least whatever was calling them wanted them there in one piece, Hind reflected, as they followed Bran and the others, trying to think of other ideas to awaken them. She was seriously considering opening her shirt and flashing her breasts in front of him – even though Eric would have had a fit – when the convoy turned right and headed down a different path, picking its way through the rocks with the ease of experienced miners. A moment later, they came through a passage so thin that they had to move in single file and down into a quarry. Giant piles of stone had been scattered all around, waiting for the men to carry them down to the village, where they would be used to pay taxes or sometimes sold to travellers. The quarry was as deserted as the village. She tried reaching out with her senses, trying to locate the source of the luring call, but sensed nothing, apart from ambient background noise.

  Eric caught her arm, pulling her away from Branet. “What do you think we’re dealing with?”

  Hind shrugged. “I have no idea,” she said, reminding herself to be ready for anything. She started mentally preparing a series of useful spells, pushing her wards to the limit to contain them until they were required. “There are too many creatures that could do this to unwary humans.”

  “Perhaps its allied to Herod,” Eric said, darkly.

  “Or perhaps the miners disturbed something best left undisturbed,” Hind countered, grimly. There were plenty of legends about people disturbing beasts from beyond the dawn of time and paying the price for it, but she had no way of knowing which legends were real and which were merely old wives’ tales, or tales that had grown out of a kernel of truth. “I don't think that it is...”

  A twinge of magic impacted on her senses and she winched. “It’s closer now,” she said, thoughtfully. Whatever it was, it didn't feel human. A human magician’s magic worked in a specific pattern, even one who was on the verge of losing control over his powers. This felt fluttery, as if it was doing one thing one moment, and then something completely different the next. The whorls of magic weren’t disciplined, yet she was sure that there was an order – even a purpose – to them that was just beyond the limits of her perception. “I don’t think...”

  Branet interrupted her. “Look at the plants,” she said, in alarm. Her finger was pointing towards a small thicket of strange green trees. Hind was unaccountably reminded of leeks, except these leeks were massive, easily the size of a man. “Just look at them.”

  “They’re in ranks,” Eric said, puzzled. Hind could hear – and feel – the unease in his voice, yet she couldn’t understand what was bothering them. “Why would wild plants be in rows?”

  Hind’s eyes narrowed as she saw what he meant. She’d grown up on a farm and the growing plots had always been ordered, but wild plants were hardly ordered. They grew up wherever the wind or birds took them, creating a randomness she’d always loved as a child. The leek-like plants had been planted in strict rows, rows that had a military precision. Alarmed now, she motioned for Eric and Branet to stay back and stepped up to the leeks, gently pressing her hand against one of the plants. The sudden sense of overwhelmingly powerful magic stunned her, sending her staggering back...yet it somehow broke though a barrier in her mind. She could hear people screaming and pleading for help, help that would never come.

  “Father,” Branet shouted. “Father...no!

  Hind followed her horrified gaze. The hypnotised men and women were forming up in ranks, next to the leeks. She had a sudden vision of what was about to happen and stepped back rapidly as wild magic built up, and then faded. The...presence she’d sensed earlier was closer now, looking right at her...and it still took her several seconds to make out the green face among the green plants. Dark eyes, inhuman eyes, met hers and magic seemed to flare up around her. Hind rapidly built up her own wards, deflecting the magic harmlessly up into the air, before she stepped back rapidly. A very feminine titter followed her as she retreated, before the figure seemed to shimmer though the plants and come into view. Hind was simultaneously charmed and repulsed, wondering just what she was looking at.

  The entity was very obviously female, yet despite a humanoid appearance, there was nothing human about her. She appeared to be a girl on the verge of bursting into womanhood, as naked as the day she was born, with skin as green as the greenest of plants. Her hair was a flowing mane of plants and flowers, which moved around her as if they had a mind of her own, somehow illustrating the pointed ears that poked out of the odd face. She gave Hind a smile that would have melted her heart, had the entity been a human girl, and a pout that would have melted the stoniest of fathers. The entity had a relaxed easy sexuality that stuck Hind – and Eric – like a sledgehammer, calling to them. Only the thought of Branet, and the gentle awareness of the ring on her finger, kept Hind standing where she was. The younger girl had no idea what she was facing – or feeling.

  “I charge you,” Hind said, though a suddenly dry mouth. The sheer presence of the entity was draining her will to resist. “I charge you, by the Compact, to reveal yourself to me.”

  The entity cocked her head, rather like a bird might move. “The Compact has been broken,” she said, in words that seemed to echo in Hind’s head, rather than her ears. It was a form of mental communication, surmounting the language barrier. “Darkness walks upon the land.”

  Hind stared at her, suddenly aware of what she was seeing. An elemental was rare; the last reported encounter had been hundreds of years ago and researchers had been questioning it for years. The brief report she’d read in the Academy library had been transformed into a monumental debate between scholars, who could never be sure if Lanark The Tuneful had really seen an elemental, or if he’d smoked something intoxicating and had a really bad trip. It hardly mattered; elementals were part of the land, connected to the Greenwood and the magic flowing through the air and they possessed stupendous powers. They might not be evil, as humans understood the term, but they could be very dangerous.

  “Father,” Branet said, again. Her voice was shrill with panic. “Help him!”

  Hind stared. The hypnotised people were changing. Green shoots were spreading out from their bodies, starting a short transformation into the leek-like plants...the plants, she realised now, that were the missing villagers. She caught sight of one of the hunting women, a blissful expression on her face, as the change ran up her chest and into her neck. Her arms stretched out and became branches, linking with the other victims and blurring them together. A second later, it was all over and the field of green trees was expanded sharply.

  Branet ran forwards, confronting the elemental directly. “Let my father go,” she screamed at her. She pulled back her fist and rammed it into the entity’s chest. “Let them all go!”

  “I cannot,” the entity said. She placed one hand on Branet’s head, freezing the girl into immobility. Green shoots appeared at her feet, racing upwards to tr
ap the child within a thicket of wood. Hind heard Branet cry out, despite the paralysis, just before she was trapped and helpless. “I must restore balance to the land.”

  Hind exchanged glances with Eric, gauging his thoughts. If direct confrontation was out, perhaps there was another way. “You said that you were awoken,” she said, thinking hard. It wasn't what the entity had said, but elementals had notoriously poor memories...or so the legends said. “What brought you back to the land?”

  “They disturbed my rest,” the entity said. Her dark eyes seemed to fix on Hind, as if she was trying to look into her mind. Hind had wards to protect her against mental intrusion, but she had no idea if they would be effective against an elemental. The legends suggested that they wouldn't be any use at all. Elementals were capricious creatures that had no real sense of right or wrong, at least as humans understood the terms. “They attacked the Sacred Grove.”

  One long hand, one that seemed to turn into a tree branch when Hind wasn't looking, pointed up away from the quarry, towards a tiny patch of land. It was odd; there was an artefact so old that it dated all the way back to the days before the empire, surrounded by trees that almost seemed to be paying their respects to the artefact. Even with the presence of the entity blurring her senses, she could sense the power drifting in the air, a power that had been forgotten long before the village was established and the miners started mining. They hadn't known about the boundaries, or about the ancient Laws; they’d just needed firewood for their fires, just to keep them warm at night. She thought about explaining that to the entity, but the entity couldn't understand. The issues of being human meant nothing to it.