What is that? What are you doing?
Even if he wanted to answer, Cor couldn’t speak for the pain and the amount of concentration this new task required of him. He felt for every drop of Geoff’s blood, and he found it all. He drew it to him, for he was in contact with it through Geoff’s sword, and it obeyed his will. The ghast’s skin began to tighten around its form as its very essence traveled through the blade into Cor’s abdomen. The blade began to shorten and thin, eventually dissolving as Cor drained it and his wounds healed. Fully healed, Cor opened his eyes to behold the ghast, still standing but shriveled as a grape left in the sun.
Cor launched himself into it and knocked it to the ground, landing astride the ghast’s chest. He pulled off his right gauntlet.
No, please. Let me return –
“I gave you a chance,” Cor said.
He placed his naked, open palm on the ghast’s chest, just as it tried to return to Geoff’s unmoving body. Tendrils of Geoff’s blood essence reached out, but only barely as they were pulled back into the ghast’s now diminutive form. An orb of blood began to form, pulled directly from the ghast, and it grew in size as the ghast continued to shrink. It looked as if it were nothing but a blood red skin stretched tightly over a large skeleton. Eventually, even that dissolved into the ever growing blood orb. I’m sorry, Cor thought he heard Geoff say, and then the ghast was no more. Cor turned his hand over to behold the huge glob of blood, almost two feet across, just before it completely lost its shape. It fell to the dirt with a splash, soaking both the road and Cor’s arms.
Cor loosed a great breath he didn’t know he held as he stood to retrieve his discarded gear.
“Impressive, but it matters not Dahken,” said Nadav’s hollow voice, and Cor walked leisurely toward the horse that grazed calmly off the side of the road. “I have no intention of honoring our bargain, but you know that. Even now, my army nears Martherus, and I will give the city one day to surrender before I-“
Cor yanked the corpse’s leg, and it tumbled hard to the ground, head first. There was a sickening crack, and Nadav’s voice ceased to exist. Cor took the horse by its reins and led it back to where Thom and their horses waited. Thom was laughing.
“You know Dahken, you really are stupid. What did you expect to accomplish with all this? So you killed one of your own people. You’ve done nothing to stop what Nadav has planned.”
“I accomplished exactly what I came here for, except for one thing,” Cor said. “Thom, a couple months ago, you made me promise something. Do you remember what it was?”
“No, I…” Thom thought for a moment, but realization crossed his eyes too late.
The Loszian reached for his shortsword, but it was a motion to which his new body with its elongated joints and muscles was not accustomed. He fumbled for the hilt, missing it over and over. Cor waited until he finally managed to wrap his spidery fingers around it, and then he brought Soulmourn up in one lightning fast fluid motion. The blade bit into the left side of Thom’s jaw, cutting upwards at an angle, to exit the Loszian’s head just below the right eye.
Cor mounted his horse and began to ride east with the other two horses connected by a rope. He thought that if he switched his mount every few hours, he could cross the miles much more quickly. Behind, he left the corpses of two former friends to rot in the autumn sun.
24.
There was simply no other way to put it – Thyss hated the gray skinned bastard. Not Cor’El, because he was technically a bastard, but rather his father. The plan seemed to make sense at the time, but actually carrying it out, she found herself silently raging against the father of her son. He left her in charge of four thousand obnoxious and stupid men and a score of children. The real issue was simple – Thyss was bored out of her mind. Only Marya provided her any reprieve from the banality of it all, and only when they became unified in their mixed hatred and love of men. Of course after a while, Thyss tired of even this discussion.
On the other hand, the weather had been more or less favorable. Ever since she met Dahken Cor, it seemed that Thyss was constantly on the move to somewhere or another, which overall was fine by her. In the last year or more, she had traveled through snow, cold rain and blazing temperatures, and this march had probably been the most comfortable of them all. The sun warmed just enough during the day to shake off the chill that would come in the night and stay through the early hours. Sunlight had been constant during the day, as rain was rare to Aquis this time of year.
It didn’t change the fact that she was furious with him, and almost daily she considered setting his hair on fire or running him through with her sword. Marya would heal him of course, just so that she may inflict another horrible wound. On the other hand, it was just as likely that, upon seeing him, she would immediately push him to the ground and mount him right then and there. One never could tell.
Cor’El brought her the only real joy of the entire march. Thyss, Marya and Keth rode toward the center of the army, surrounded by its protection, but also trapped from quick escape. Regardless, it kept her near her son at all times, and she loved to hear the sounds he made, that is when she could hear them over the stomping of boots. When he cried, it took all of her will to not stop the army then and there so that she may go to him, hold him. Mostly, he rode with a wet nurse in one of the wagons with the other Dahken children, and she was only able to hold him or nurse him when they stopped for the night.
The army covered the miles far more slowly than Thyss would have liked, and there was not a thing she could do about it. Four thousand soldiers, archers, peasants and those needed to support such an army and its supplies were a logistical nightmare. They awoke before dawn to break their fast and then their camp, and they marched north with the Byrver until the sun dropped below the horizon. If they could have held formation with no risk of losing men to the river, Thyss would have ordered a forced march with only the light of the moon and stars to guide them. To her ire, it was unanimously deemed unwise by Keth and the Western captains.
Marya tracked their progress, every day marking as they passed each bend in the river or every small, deserted town or village. After a few weeks, it became unnecessary, as they could judge their proximity to Byrverus by the number of corpses flowing downriver or perhaps stuck on rocks or in tree roots. Upon inspection, some of these began to move, clawing their way out of the river to attack the ranks of soldiers. The first surprised them and caused some fright among the ranks, even with the stories of Fort Haldon and Byrverus circulating among the men. Even still, these few decayed automatons were easily dispatched, and it started to become a matter of course as they neared the city.
The Byrver, wide and shallow in the south, narrowed and deepened as they marched north. In addition to deeper waters, the banks themselves were taller and steeper the more they moved north, the river having carved an ancient track into the land. Thyss thought about their escape from the sewer tunnel, and she realized that the water’s surface must have been no less than three score feet below the city itself. The going became difficult, as the men had to slow their march to avoid loss of footing, for one soldier falling and sliding toward the river could bring down dozens. Brenden and the other captains suggested that they climb the riverbanks and merely follow the river above, on flat ground.
“No,” said Thyss adamantly. “Cor wanted us to stay with the river for a reason.”
“Surely, he didn’t mean it literally?” Brenden asked, but it sounded more of a statement.
“He did, and it is not your place to question his commands,” Thyss replied, and she almost hoped he would argue further.
“Of course not, Lady Thyss,” he said with a nod. “Please, accept my apologies.”
As the riverbanks became too steep, the army stretched out for over a mile to allow as many men as possible to walk on the most level ground possible. The wagons still found the going tough, constantly sticking deep in the soft ground; some even had to be abandoned as wheels and axles broke.
Thyss hated to admit it, but she began to worry when the banks of the Byrver started to give way to fishing wharves, piers and docks. Long wooden walkways with steps and ramps led up the riverbanks, and she knew that they led to houses and villages. They were near the city now, perhaps no more than a few days march, and there had been no sign of Cor. Anxiety gnawed at her, and she wanted nothing more than to ride ahead herself, all the way to Byrverus, to find him. Instead she demanded that two of the outriders be sent ahead, and they were not to return until they had reached the city without finding him.
When they stopped for the night, she could not even find solace in her son, pacing around the encampment like a caged beast. There were no diversions to be found among the men either, as the captains thought best that they light no fires of any kind, so close to an enemy held position. The men kept near silent, as much for the knowledge that battle and death may soon come as for orders. So the ranks sat quietly, some engaged in small games of chance, while others slept or simply stared at the stars. They ate cold, iron rations, adding to the silent atmosphere.
Thyss even considered finding one to amuse her in her bedroll, just enough to take her mind off the disposition of her lover. She was close to selecting one before something odd happened – she felt something that she had never felt before. The anxiety and the empty feeling in Thyss’ chest was joined by a sick feeling in her gut, and as quickly as she had decided to take one of the men, she decided against it. Was it guilt? She wasn’t sure what to call it, for she had never felt it before. Simply put, to take one of the soldiers into her tent just felt wrong somehow.
It startled her, and she bolted upright when Cor slipped into her tent in the middle of the night. She leapt up and slapped him hard across one cheek just as he pulled off his helm. She then kissed him fiercely.
“The scouts found me a few miles from the city,” he explained as she helped him out of his armor. “I knew you hadn’t made it that far yet, because nothing seemed disturbed. I was backtracking my way downriver. Did you have any trouble?”
“Shut up,” she said, and she took him while their son slept peacefully nearby.
They slept late into the next morning on Cor’s orders that no one wake them and the army be allowed to rest. Even Cor’El did not force them to rise, for as soon as he awoke and began to cry, the wet nurse immediately retrieved him. In fact, the entire host seemed happy for the reprieve, even if it only lasted a few hours. When Cor and Thyss finally woke, perhaps only two hours before midday, they rose slowly. After breaking their fast on hard bread, nuts and dried fruit, Cor called together the captains and Dahken Marya and Keth to discuss the situation as it stood. They met on one of the docks, as the wood planking provided a convenient flat surface for which to view a map of the city and its surrounding area. Cor briefly explained that Geoff was no longer a threat, that he had ended the young Dahken’s life.
“What of Thom?” asked Keth.
“Thom died at Fort Haldon. Anyway, I am concerned,” Cor said with a dismissive wave of his hand, “that we’re found out. Geoff brought a dead woman with him, and she spoke with Nadav’s voice. He must know we’re here.”
“Not necessarily,” argued Thyss. “In fact, I doubt he could maintain such control over so many, especially over so great a distance.”
“You say this about a sorcerer that showed so much power just a few months ago?” Keth questioned. “He raised thousands upon thousands of the dead beneath Byrverus, most of which had been dead for centuries.”
“Even still, I think those we came across only followed the last commands they received. As Nadav moved on, he likely lost the ability to control those that fell too far behind,” Thyss said.
“How could you know that?”
A sudden anger flashed across Thyss’ face, “Because I know something about magic, Dahken. How much do you know about Loszian sorcery?”
“Besides,” Cor said, calmly intervening, “if the Loszians knew we were here, I think they would have descended upon us by now.”
“My Lord,” interjected Brenden, “one way or the other they will know we’re here soon enough, and I dare say that we are now at the point that you must reveal your plan to retake Byrverus. We cannot go much further.”
“It’s true,” Cor said, and he nodded his head at the map. “I don’t know how much we can trust this. The city is broken. Many of its walls and buildings have fallen or sunken into the ground. I would wager that many of the streets are impassable. We could bypass the walls and gates easily enough, but it wouldn’t be long before we had enemies on all sides.”
“So the front door approach is out,” Thyss concluded sardonically.
“Right. Byrverus itself is an amazing feat of engineering, near as I can tell,” Cor continued. “There is a massive labyrinthine sewer system under the system. It wouldn’t surprise me if there’s miles worth of tunnels, all connected. The outflow tunnels are large enough for two men to walk abreast, and they just happen to empty into the Byrver. The closest is maybe fifteen miles north of us.”
“For the gods sakes,” Marya whispered with a sigh. “We’re going back into the sewers? Really?”
“Back?” asked Brenden. “You’ve been there before?”
“Long story,” Cor said, dismissing the question with a wave, “but yes. We’re going into the sewers.”
“And you have a map of this gods awful place?” one of the other captains asked. Cor realized he didn’t know either of the others’ names.
“No. I will lead inside the tunnels,” Cor answered, and it was glad that the answer seemed to satisfy the captain. He really didn’t want to explain the concept of following his blood to the gods know what.
“My Lord?” Brenden again. “I’m concerned. If the city has collapsed in upon itself, buildings sunken and fallen and such, how do we know the tunnels are intact and safe?”
“We don’t,” Cor answered, “but I see few other choices.”
“Lord Dahken, if I may,” Keth interjected. “I’ve been in those tunnels before, and I will wager my armor that the tunnels are undamaged. They’re made from some sort of stone the likes of which I’ve never seen, and I do not mean blocks of stone. Each tunnel seems to be one great round and hollow piece of stone, like a giant water pipe.”
“If it is so large and hollow, would it not be fragile?” Brenden asked.
“It would stand to reason, but for some reason, I don’t think so. Before he destroyed the city, did Nadav not say that all of our cities were built upon the remains of more ancient ones?” Keth asked, receiving a nod from both Cor and Marya. “These tunnels are beyond anything we can build. I somehow think they may be a remnant of one of these bygone ages.”
Thyss yawned loudly, drawing everyone’s rapt attention. “Sorry,” she said sarcastically. “The point is, all four thousand of us are getting covered in piss and shit, right?”
* * *
Cor, Marya and three thousand Westerners trudged through the foul tunnels underneath the city. They had changed somewhat since the last time he traversed them, though the general stench and distaste persisted. For the last two months, the sewers no longer received waste from the thousands upon thousands of people who lived above. There was little flow through most of the tunnels, except a trickle of water from light autumn rains, but that did not make them any more tolerable. They still stank horrendously, and one dared not contemplate the detritus caked upon the floor and lower parts of the rounded walls.
Cor wished Thyss were with him. He would not have Cor’El in the tunnels, for several reasons, and Thyss would not go without him. Cor didn’t feel their son was particularly safe in the claustrophobic maze, and should he begin to cry, it wouldn’t be long before it drew the enemy down upon them. Thyss stayed behind, with their child and the other Dahken, Keth, Brenden and one thousand soldiers assigned to their protection. Should they come under attack, it was Keth’s job to get Thyss, their son and the Dahken away, while Brenden and the men fought and d
ied. They had three days. If Cor didn’t come for them in three days, Keth was to take the Dahken anyway, as far away as possible. Cor suggested Tigol. Thyss would likely take Cor’El away to Dulkur.
The entire force moved upriver together to reach the first outflow tunnel, and it had been the grueling work of an entire day to get three thousand men up rickety, hastily assembled ladders into the tunnel mouth. Once inside, most of the men spent their first hour retching, heaving and vomiting due to the overpowering stench. They crammed in three abreast, which made for a cramped condition, but it shortened the length of the column by a third. The middle man of every tenth row carried a makeshift torch, as very little natural light made its way into the tunnels.
As promised, Cor led. They followed him, three thousand booted feet tramping on the tunnel floor. It occurred to Cor that he needn’t have worried about his son’s cries, for they certainly would have been no louder than the echoes of the soldiers’ boots. The slime and muck would have muffled the sound of a few, but not three thousand.
While they followed him, Cor followed his blood, and he really had no idea to where it led him. When he reached intersections or if the tunnels branched, he chose his direction seemingly at random, and sometimes he knew immediately if he had taken the wrong turn. Other times, he would not realize it for hundreds of paces, and at these times, Cor would change direction at the next branch. They’re all connected. We’ll get there one way or the other, he thought. At times, he fancied that he remembered this tunnel from some six or eight months ago, but he knew it was ludicrous. In the end, they all looked the same, and they had no inkling of time without the sun by which to gauge it. They trudged along, the men growing tired, and all of them, even Cor, looked above longingly when they passed an iron grate or some other portal through which blew fresh air. At least the smell kept away hunger pangs.
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