by William King
Another look passed between Orson and his bodyguards. Anyone not watching for it would have missed it.
“Very well,” said Orson. “I can see there is no talking sense into you. Urag, give up your poisons to the admiral. You can accompany the guardian down into the camp. Burk too.”
He turned to Kormak and said, “There are none here who can move as stealthily as this pair. They won’t slow you down, and the extra blades might be of help.”
“Yes,” said Kormak. He did not like the way this situation was developing at all. He trusted the merchant and his bodyguards less and less with every passing moment.
Orson stood in the shadow of a great tree, along with Urag and Burk. He could see the Guardian discussing a few last details with Zamara. Good. It would keep him busy. Orson needed to have some discussions of his own.
“This is your chance,” he said, speaking directly to the changeling. “The two of you ought to be able to take care of Kormak and the woman while you’re out there in the trees.”
“What about the people?” Urag asked. “Aren’t we supposed to free them?”
“We won’t be capable of it, once the guardian and his woman have their unfortunate accident. We’ll just come back and tell Zamara that the giants ambushed us and were too strong. Then we’ll head back to the ship.”
“Pity about the woman,” said Urag. “I’d like to have some fun with her.”
“Maybe you can,” said Burk. “We may have time.”
Urag licked his lips. “Let’s hope.”
“Don’t be overconfident,” said Orson. “The guardian is a wary man.”
“He’s as good as dead,” said Urag.
Chapter Thirteen
Slowly Kormak, Rhiana, Burk and Urag circled the hills surrounding the bay. They moved down the slope directly behind the prison pen. It was night now, but the moon had not reached its zenith. Zamara and the marines would not attack until it was midnight, which gave them plenty of time to get into position.
They moved cautiously, testing their footing, taking advantage of cover. The slope was steep and rocky, and not easy to keep balance upon.
Burk moved easily over the broken ground. Clearly his night vision was better even than Kormak’s. He had no difficulty finding his way, even in the deepest pools of shadow. Something about his graceful progress made Kormak uneasy.
Rhiana stopped every hundred strides and concentrated. She was searching for giants using her mental powers. Kormak wished he possessed any of his companion’s gifts; he would just need to rely on better-than-average human eyesight and quick reflexes.
They hit the foot of the slope and paused in the undergrowth. As far as Kormak could tell, the giants had placed no sentries on this side of the prison pen. Perhaps they had placed no sentries anywhere. One thing Kormak remembered from his time in the Northlands was how overconfident the huge beings were. Few things in this world could match their physical strength, and this fed their sense of superiority.
He wondered whether the minds of these giants were as twisted as their bodies. Shadowblights transformed their victims both mentally and physically, and those changes were never for the better.
The smell told him where the prisoners were. The stink was appalling. A lot of people were confined together without proper latrines. Worse than that was the stench of rotting flesh from bodies left unburied. It seemed that any meat not eaten was simply strewn upon the ground.
The wall consisted of tree trunks, sharpened and driven into the ground and lashed together with twine or rope. The trunks had been sharpened at the top. The lowest was twice Kormak’s height. Within the fence, people cried and prayed.
Kormak moved right up to it and felt the wood with his left hand. There were gaps and knobs where branches had been hewn off; he could climb it if he had to. He felt a warm body beside him as Rhiana slid into place.
“There are giants all around, mostly near the ship. A few are moving, sentries or just restless would be my guess.”
“I’m going to slide around and take a look at the gate,” Kormak said.
“I’m going with you,” Rhiana said.
“Me too,” said Urag. He gave a feral smile. “Best stick together. Don’t go alone with giants about.”
It sounded as if the backwoodsman was troubled. Perhaps he could be relied upon until they were out of immediate danger. Kormak doubted Urag would put an axe in his back while it might endanger his own life. He did not want to bet on that, though.
Burk remained silent. Kormak sensed calculation in the other’s manner of a sort he did not like. Clearly here was a man weighing the odds of something. A knife gleamed in the darkness.
He looked as if he was measuring the distance between the two of them. For a moment, a sense of impending violence hovered in the air.
Kormak raised himself onto the balls of his feet, ready for any strike that might come. He could see no reason why the bodyguard would attack him under these circumstances, but that did not mean there wasn’t one. Urag and Rhiana tensed. The cross-currents here were strange. Kormak smiled at the bodyguard. There was a world of menace in the expression, and Burk picked up on it. He froze for a second.
Urag said, “We must be quiet. If giants hear us, we all dead.”
The tension drained out of Burk and he nodded.
“Let’s move,” Kormak said and gestured for the tracker and the bodyguard to lead the way. He moved immediately behind and left Rhiana to bring up the rear. Burk kept glancing over his shoulder, as if to make sure Kormak was not about to plunge a blade into his back. The man’s state of mind told Kormak all he needed to know about him. Clearly Burk feared that someone would do to him what he was prepared to do to others.
Kormak knew then that it was not just the giants who were the enemies here. He tapped Rhiana on the shoulder and leaned forward. “Be wary of this pair,” he said, so softly no one else could hear. “I do not trust them.”
She nodded.
Kormak slid up to the corner of the pen. All around him on the beach, he could see huge sprawled shapes. The longship lay on the sand like a beached whale, large as a row of houses in the moonlight.
A sentry stood near the pen’s gate. The giant leant heavily against the fence, a club lying near at hand.
From all around came the sound of rumbling snores. Something huge growled, a menacing, feral noise. Rhiana closed her eyes.
“Some of the giants are stirring,” she said. “If you’re going to do something, you’d better do it soon.”
They huddled back in the shadows. “I’m going over the wall,” Kormak said. He looked at Urag. “When the attack comes, use that poisoned axe on the sentry. Lure him away from the gate.”
Urag nodded. Burk’s face was blank. He seemed to be considering his options. Kormak tapped Rhiana on the shoulder and backed away, keeping his eyes on the bodyguards. Rhiana followed him.
Burk and Urag watched them go. Both of them looked tense. Kormak wondered if they were about to attack. Nearby, a giant’s voice rumbled out, reminding them all of their potential peril. Urag and his companion froze into stillness. It would have been unwise to do anything else.
Kormak and Rhiana rounded the corner of the pen. As soon as they were out of sight, Kormak stopped and listened, waiting to hear if they were being followed.
“What is it?” Rhiana asked.
“I didn’t like the way Burk was looking at my neck and fingering his knife.”
“I wondered why Goodman Waters was so keen that they accompanied us. You think he wants you dead? Why?”
“I’ve made a lot of enemies in my time.”
“One of your many gifts.”
“I have a bad feeling about that pair, and I’ve learned to trust my instincts.”
“Since you’re still alive, that would seem wise. Still, you may have made a lot of enemies, but I can’t think of why they would want to kill me.”
“They might not want witnesses.”
Rhiana was silent f
or a moment, then nodded. “What now?”
“We go over this wall and make contact with the prisoners.”
Kormak pulled himself up, using the knots in the wood and slid over the top of the fence. He lowered himself from the spiked points, clambered down and dropped the last six feet, landing near someone in the dark. Rhiana followed.
A body stirred in the gloom. A child whimpered. Suddenly Kormak had no doubts about being here, about the rightness of what he was doing. He had taken an oath to protect the innocent, and he was going to keep it.
He moved across to the sleeping figure. Someone looked up and saw his figure was human sized. “Who is it?” said a woman’s voice.
“Is this child yours?” Kormak asked.
“Yes. I don’t know your voice—are you one of the sailors?”
“My name is Kormak. I am a Guardian of the Dawn. I have come to get you out of here. This is Captain Rhiana.”
“What?” The woman had at least enough sense to keep her voice low.
“The King-Emperor’s soldiers are waiting outside. They are going to attack the giants. When your captors are distracted, we’re going to take out the gate and run for it.
“That’s madness. The giants say they’ll kill us all if anyone tries to escape.”
“They are going to kill you all anyway. You know that. This way you will at least have a chance. You and your child.”
The woman nodded her head.
“You have a leader? A captain of the guard, a mayor, anyone?”
“The guards were all killed when the giants stormed the fort. The mayor got eaten yesterday. The priest Rik has been preaching to us. People will listen to him. I will take you to him.”
Leading her little boy by the hand, the woman led Kormak through the crowd. Sensing something happening, people came awake all around him. Perhaps they had not been asleep anyway. Under the circumstances, most people would find it difficult to rest. Rhiana followed along, a scarf draped around her neck, hiding her gills. It was a wise move. Best not to spook these scared people with her alien appearance.
She led him to an old white-haired man, lying near the gate. He wore tattered robes, and a hood fell back from his tonsured head. He came awake slowly as the woman shook him.
“Frater Rik, wake up.”
“Has someone else died, my child? I will say the words.” His voice was quiet, cultured and resonant.
“No, there is someone here to talk to you.”
The priest looked up at Kormak’s shadowy outline. “There’s only one sort of man wears a sword on his back,” he said.
“I am a Guardian of the Order of the Dawn, Frater. I have come here to free you.”
“Then the Holy Sun has answered my prayers. Did you bring more of your Order? Sunflares? Sorcerers?”
“Only myself, Frater, although there are some soldiers in the hills.”
“You do not sound entirely confident, my son.”
“We have enough people to provide a distraction, not win a battle against so many giants. We have a ship in the harbour. People can either hide in the forest or head out to sea. Once out there we will be able to escape the clutches of the giants.”
“It does not sound like much of a plan.”
“It was the best I could do on short notice. I did not expect to be encountering blighted giants on this island. I am on my way to Terra Nova, on the King-Emperor’s business.”
“I do not mean to sound critical, my son. I am just astonished that you would come in here on your own. Karla, get Jed and Leo and Karel over here. We need to start planning for the breakout now.”
The woman hustled away. The old priest looked up at Kormak, then got painfully to his feet. “I fear I will only slow you down when we go. I am not as young as I used to be.”
“We’ll get as many away as we can,” said Kormak.
The old man nodded. “They came out of the woods after darkness fell,” said Rik. “The night after the great storm. I heard sounds like an earthquake and buildings falling. I did not know what was happening. No one did. Then they came from the forest and started rounding everyone up. They drove us across this bay and penned us in like animals, and every day they roast a few of us over the fire as if we were slaughtered hogs. Some of the people went mad. I told them to keep the faith, that the Holy Sun would protect us…”
He broke off and Kormak realised the old man was crying. “I doubted. I thought we were forsaken. But you came…out of the darkness, a warrior of the dawn. It is like something out of scripture.”
Kormak found himself moved by the old man’s words. Since Gerd’s death, he had been feeling useless and self-pitying and full of doubt. He could see now that there was still work for him in this world, still evil to be opposed, still people that he might save.
The others came out of the darkness and he spoke to them, and told them what they must do.
Shouts came from the far end of the beach. The thunderous sound of waking giants bellowing at one another rolled across the beach. Men screamed taunts and war-cries. From outside the gate came a roar, and the sound of massive feet crunching on sand.
“It is time to go,” Kormak said. The prisoners nodded. Most of them were bunched up around the gateway. Women huddled together with children. Men waited on the outside of the group. A few carried sharpened sticks or bits of stone, or whatever feeble weapons they could gather. A few hung back, too scared to move. Kormak thought they would gather their courage when they saw everybody else make a break for it. If they did not, there was nothing anyone could do for them.
He leapt forward. His dwarf-forged blade slashed through the ropes holding the gate. The men raced forward, throwing their way against the barrier. It toppled to earth with a thud and everybody halted, standing there whey-faced as if they could not quite believe what they had done.
“What are you waiting for? Run!” Kormak shouted. “Head to the west, up the hill path. Scatter into the forest if you can’t do anything else. Get away from here now, if you want to live.”
That was all it took. With shouts and screams, the tide of people flowed out through the broken gate. Some swung left, some swung right. A few ran directly towards the ship. A giant emerged from behind it, saw the escaping people and shouted in confusion, as if it could not quite believe what it was seeing.
Kormak raced towards it, shouting a challenge. Rhiana and Urag fell into place at his side. The giant loomed above him, towering like a cliff-face and brought its massive club thudding down into the sand. Kormak ran between its legs, blade raised, slashing. Urag was right behind him, chopping with a poisoned axe. Rhiana slashed at the creature’s ankle, going for the hamstring.
The giant aimed a blow at her. She leapt nimbly aside. Kormak scrambled back to strike at the giant, trying to get its attention. Urag struck once more. The giant whirled around confused by so many targets, bellowing in a debased dialect of the tongue of the Old Ones, shouting for help, that the prisoners were escaping.
Urag cast his axe, taking the giant directly in the throat. It continued to yell, its voice a croak, as it pulled the axe free and dropped it. Blood dribbled from the wound and down its legs from the multiple cuts.
Kormak aimed his blade at where the main artery would be on a man’s left leg, and sliced. Blood fountained. The giant doubled over, clutching at its leg, putting its neck within range of Kormak’s blade. He stepped in close and sliced at the jugular. A massive arm swept around, too big and too fast to be avoided. It caught him in the chest. Sparks danced before his eyes. The force of the impact sent him flying.
He hit the sand rolling, came to his feet groggy and dazed. He saw the giant rolling on the ground, lashing out with its leg, trying to kick at Rhiana. Urag had run to pick up his axe, was grubbing frantically in the sand for it.
Kormak glanced around. Most of the people were out of the pen, scattering around the beach. They moved in confusion, some heading up the slopes which Kormak and his companions had come down earlier. Some had mad
e their way to the far side of the beach, and were trying to escape that way. Most were following instructions and heading towards the west in scattered parties.
All was confusion. The giants were uncertain as to whether they were being attacked by escaped prisoners or a new force. The prisoners frantically tried to escape.
Kormak sensed a blur of motion to his right. A blade stabbed at him out of the darkness, greenish poison darkening its length. Burk’s face hung above it, pale and mask-like in the gloom. There was something quite inhuman about the blank expression it held as its owner tried to commit murder in the dark. Kormak parried. Burk’s movements were swift and sure. The point of the blade attempted to slither around the parry. A man less quick than Kormak would have died.
The guardian stepped to one side and let the blade pass. He lashed out with his left fist and clipped Burk on the side of the face. Kormak used the moment he gained to swing his blade up and then lunge. It bit home. Burk grunted. His eyes widened as the blade gauged along his arm. His fingers opened and his sword dropped. Kormak stamped his boot down on top of it, pinning it.
At that moment, a massive roar sounded to his right. The ground shook. Kormak stood unwilling to take his eyes off his foe but equally unwilling to commit to the combat again.
Burk’s gaze slid in the direction of the sound. His eyes narrowed, and he sprang backwards and away into the darkness and chaos. Kormak glanced around. Both Rhiana and Urag looked at him, as if unsure of what they had just witnessed.
A huge chieftain lumbered out of the dark. He wore a helmet carved with the horns of some great beasts from the Snow Wastes. A cloak made from the fur of polar bears hung from his shoulders. A necklace of huge fangs hung from his neck. By custom, the giant had killed those bears himself in a solitary hunt. The chieftain raised a huge horn to his lips and blew it. The thunderous sound rolled across the beach; all of the giants began to fall back and rally to their leader.