Alexios grabbed Ian’s arm. “Any signs of who did this?” he whispered.
“There are no signs of any men other than our own,” the other replied.
He had expected as much. Alexios knew what those words meant. No signs of men. Many a dangerous creature made its home in the wild parts of these lands.
“Is there a creature that…” he started, but stopped when the former sergeant shook his head.
That left one explanation.
“I think something may have crossed over,” Ian said.
For the locals like Ian, the possibility of something dark and sinister being on the prowl for mortal blood was a part of life. Their tales spoke of beings from the Otherworld that crossed over to feast on the flesh of men. To Ian’s people these were not fireside tales. They were sacred knowledge, passed down from generation to generation, warnings of a time when the barriers between worlds were far thinner than today.
“I also found this,” the redheaded giant said. In his fist, he held a piece of fabric. Alexios recognized a scarf that had belonged to the Lady.
“What have you found?” their lord asked.
Lord Oswald stood now. Alexios studied his face. In his youth, the lord had blond hair. Now, strands of gray shot through it and his trimmed beard showed plenty of white too. But it was the eyes that those that met him remembered the most. A deep blue, like the sky on a summer day, they reflected intelligence and wisdom. Right now, they hid his thoughts. They gave no clue as to what was going on behind them.
Nobles don’t show their emotions in front of their vassals, Alexios thought.
“My Lord, we found a trail leading deep in to the forest.” Ian reported. “I found this on it.” Lord Oswald reached for the scarf and turned his back on them.
Alexios respected and admired Lord Oswald. A virtuous knight, a courageous leader, there was much to like about him.
The second son of an old family, he led one of the armies that restored peace and civilized what the West called the Outlands. With skillful diplomacy, and the proven skill of his sword, he stabilized the north regions. He gave and won assurances from the local chieftains, and his presence created a buffer between the other lords to the south and the local tribes.
The men in the trees returned. The others gathered around. None of them dared to break the silence.
Lord Oswald turned to face them.
“Lord, we are ready to search for the lady,” young Sir Dunstan said.
To Alexios, the young man was still a squire. He was just dressed as a knight.
“There are three-dozen armed men dead here,” Alexios said. He had no desire to listen to young blood foolishness. “We should gather greater forces to search the area. We don’t know what did this.”
Sir Dunstan’s eyes went wide. “But the lady is out there! We must save her. It’s part of the code we’re sworn to follow. Knights must protect women. Leaving the lady in danger would be breaking our vows!”
The Code. Leave it to someone just dubbed knight to quote the chivalry code.
“We are knights, sell-sword,” retorted Sir Aelric, one of the older knights. “Unlike you, we serve our lord out of loyalty and the bonds made by our fathers and their fathers before them. Do not dare to soil our honor suggesting we ignore our vows!”
Alexios’s hand gripped his sword’s hilt. Hard.
“Sir Aelric, this is not the time to act in a rash manner. I speak only with the safety of our lord in mind. Surely you see that rushing to our deaths will break the vows to keep our Lord safe?”
“Your words reek of cowardice!”
Alexios stepped forward. In the West, killing a noble meant death for anyone but another noble. But they were not in the West.
Before he could take another step a hand grabbed his shoulder.
“Aelric, I hope old age has not clouded your judgment,” Lord Oswald said. “There is not a man here that can beat Alexios. I can’t afford to lose another knight.”
Lord Oswald squeezed Alexios’s shoulder.
Sir Aelric bowed his head. “Yes, my lord,” he said.
Lord Oswald never chastened his vassals in front of others. Not a knight present missed the warning.
“Ian, you said there was a trail?”
“Yes my lord. A horse went in to the forest. It bore one rider, or perhaps two of light weight. I think it may have been Sir Edric’s horse.”
Alexios thought about this. Earlier today, a peasant returned Sir Edric’s horse saying his son found it on the fields. After assembling a search party, they set out at once. If Edric died here, he must have given his horse to someone else and told him to take the lady with him. “Mount up. We’ll follow this trail to wherever it takes us,” Lord Oswald ordered.
Glancing at the carnage around him, he turned to his knights. “Send one of your squires back. These men are to be taken care of as our customs demand.”
His eyes rested on his son’s body. “Take my son’s body back with you. He is to be prepared for burial.” Alexios considered Lord Oswald instructions. The shrewd commander that he knew never made mistakes.
Then again, the man just lost his eldest son and his wife. He wondered if his first mistake would be his last.
Could it be that we ride to our death? Alexios thought as he mounted. Not that it mattered. His lord gave him an order, and he’ll follow it.
He remembered the vow he took to protect Lord Oswald with his life. Maybe today would be the day that he honor that pledge. They fell into a single line and rode in to the forest. Ian led the way, followed by Alexios, Lord Oswald, and then the others.
No one spoke; the trees around them had a surreal quality. They stood on each side of the trail, silent guardians watching the intruders below.
Not a sound. An unnatural silence that plucked the men’s nerves settled in like a cloak. Their mounts became difficult, and only their riders’ urging kept them going forward.
They sense danger, Alexios thought. He could sense it too. His skin tingled, as if something got underneath the clothes and armor. He felt eyes on him.
One look at the others told him they felt the same way. Some watched the trail ahead, while others searched the trees. He caught some who turned all the way in their saddles to glance back.
Up ahead, Ian stopped at a fork on the trail. He dismounted to examine the ground; nodded to himself, then stood.
“The rider took that trail. It leads out. But he left the lady here. She went the other way.”
Lord Oswald ordered them to follow the Lady’s trail.
The trees grew denser as they rode. Despite the clear skies, it darkened as they traveled further in; the thick canopy above blocked the sunlight. The tree branches grew ever lower, as the trail narrowed. Soon they had to stop.
“Leave one of your squires with the horses,” the Lord ordered.
The knights dismounted. They tied their horses and left their lances. In unspoken agreement, they drew swords and held their shields ready.
“Caelin,” called Alexios. “Guard the horses and our gear.”
The boy nodded, eyes wide, the sweat on his forehead betraying his fear.
Alexios laid a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll be back shortly,” he promised the younger man. At least some of us will, he hoped.
Lord Oswald nodded to Ian to take the lead. Alexios fell in step behind him.
The atmosphere of dread intensified. Something lurked at the end of the trail.
Ahead, it grew brighter. The trail ended at the edge of a large clearing. Alexios squinted against the light. Large stones stood scattered across the field, some as tall as a man, others twice that. There was no pattern to them that he could see. Instead, they formed a maze through the large clearing.
“What is this place?” he asked Ian, his voice low. “Did your people raise these?”
“No. These were here long before the tribes came east. Or so the tales say.”
“Barbarians!” Sir Aelric said. “You—”
&
nbsp; “Listen!” Alexios ordered, cutting him off.
They paused. The sound of stone on stone pounded in the silence. It stopped for a moment, and then started again with renewed urgency. Lord Oswald gestured for the knights to move ahead. Ian and Alexios stayed close to their Lord.
The sound grew as they navigated the maze of standing stones. At intervals the giant rocks were so close that only two knights could walk abreast.
Alexios stole glances at their surface as he walked, noticing the faded signs of an unknown script. After a sharp turn they stood on what Alexios guessed would be the center of the maze.
“Lady!” one of the knights up front shouted.
Lady Mildryth lay on the ground, her ankle tied by rope to a heavy rock. She was in bad shape. Her dress hung in rags on her frail body, barely hiding the pale flesh beneath. She was barefooted, her feet cut and bloodied. Fresh scars on her back glistened as they bled. Her brown hair was a dirty mass that hid her face.
Alexios saw what caused the sound they followed here. The Lady struck repeatedly at the rope with a rock shard in an attempt to set herself free. Her swings missed and struck the rock more often than not.
She muttered as she swung at the rope. Alexios had to concentrate to hear her repeating “free me” like a mantra.
He sighed. She was in shock.
“Lady! Are you hurt?” Sir Dunstan asked.
The girl ignored him.
“Lady Mild—”
She turned to them, eyes open wide in horror.
“Fools,” she said, her voice hoarse. She dropped the shard and clutched her head. “It comes!” She cried in pain.
“Lady, we come to ta—”
“Run!” she yelled.
Something small and round sailed through the air and landed in front of the Lord. Its contents splattered everywhere.
Alexios looked at the object and cursed the shades of the Otherworld. His squire’s head lay in front of him.
Caelin! He thought he saved his life when he left him behind. Instead he killed him. A gush of wind and instinct took over; Alexios jumped back. A wet splash and the knight next to him dropped his sword and reached for his throat. Blood pumped out of his neck arteries. He dropped to the floor and convulsed.
So fast! Alexios had caught only a glimpse of the thing as it struck. It was big, that was all he could tell. But it moved like the wind.
How could a man fight such a thing? Their only chance was for some of them to distract it while Lord Oswald fled with Lady Mildryth.
Two of the squires drop their swords and ran.
“Cowards! Come back here!” Sir Aelric yelled.
“Stay close!” Lord Oswald commanded. “Leave them.”
The boys made the turn that led back in to the maze and were lost from sight. Then the screaming started.
Alexios turned around and freed Lady Mildryth with a stroke of his sword. She grasped his surcoat. Her grip’s strength surprised him. He stared at her despite himself. She didn’t look like the spoiled princess he knew.
Her lips were bloody and cracked. Angry bruises covered the rest of her face. Even the stunning gray eyes that were her pride were bloodshot now.
“It wants to be free...”
Alexios stared at her without understanding.
“Run, please,” she said. “It just wants me.”
“What have you done, woman?”
Alexios stared at Lord Oswald. The anger in his voice surprised him. Before he had time to ponder it, the squires’ cries stopped.
“It’s coming!” Sir Aelric shouted.
The large bulk Alexios saw before shot in to the air from behind a monolith and landed at the edge of the clearing. It extended long wings, like a bat’s, then it stretched to its full height. It resembled a man only in that it had two legs and two arms. The limbs were long, tight with corded muscle, and ended in oversized claws that dripped fresh blood. Scales and skin covered its body. Its head was like a man’s, but black horns protruded from its skull.
As it examined them with two pairs of eyes, it tilted its head sideways, like a dog.
“Bound demon,” Ian said.
“What—” Alexios clamped his mouth shut.
The thing lunged. It struck a knight and sent him flying with a swipe of its claws. Alexios stepped in front of Lord Oswald to block the demon’s path. When it struck him, the force of the blow broke his shield and sent him sprawling to the ground.
Fighting exploded all around. The blow Alexios had taken left him dazed. He shook his head to recover. When he did, Lord Oswald was on the ground, the body of one of the knights on top of him. Sir Aelric bent down to help while the others stood ready to defend them.
Sir Dunstan stood next to the Lady, but the creature appeared to have no interest in her. Ian lay on the ground, unmoving.
The fiend stood in front, its back to him. It held a knight up by the throat with one arm. With the other it snapped his neck.
Alexios lunged with his sword. The blade sunk deep. The creature turned and grasped his forearm.
A blast of pain engulfed Alexios’s head and he screamed as he had never before.
The demon let go and the pain disappeared. It leaped in to the air and landed on top of a standing stone at the other side of the clearing, an impossible jump for anything mortal. It reached down, pulled the sword embedded on its ribs out and tossed it back to Alexios.
It sunk in the ground in front of him. The demon crouched and watched him.
Alexios got to his feet and then stared down at Ian. His friend was dead.
It was only then that he noticed the silence. Not the eerie silence of the forest before, but a total lack of sound; as if everything in the world hushed at once.
Around him, wounded men cried in pain while those that still stood shouted at each other. He saw their lips move, but he could not hear a word.
“Free me!”
The voice startled him. It sounded neither male nor female. He could hear it clearly, as if the speaker stood next to him.
“Free me,” the voice repeated.
Alexios stared at the demon. Four eyes stared back at him.
Sir Dunstan said something to Lady Mildryth and grabbed her arm, but she pulled away from him.
“Free me!”
“Who sent you? Who’s your master?” she asked. Her voice was as clear to him as the other one. “Please,” she begged. “Who sent you after me?”
Sir Dunstan said something he could not hear.
“Can you hear it?” Alexios asked. The knight looked at him as if he just gone crazy. He turned, dropped his shield, and grabbed the Lady by her waist. She screamed and cursed but could not free herself.
The other knights closed ranks around Sir Dunstan.
“Bound!” Alexios glanced at Ian’s body. Bound demon, he thought. They had been Ian’s last words on this world.
“Free me!”
“You disobeyed me!” A different voice spoke. It was male, unrecognizable, but human.
“You were to kill her father and brother, then wait for her and kill her too. Instead you let her come here and killed everyone but her. Why?”
Alexios understood. The thing had a master, and their minds were linked. The demon had somehow linked him and the girl too.
Whoever he was, the demon’s master was not aware he was being listened to.
“Answer me!”
The fiend howled. It jumped to the ground and crouched, a beast ready to strike.
“Stop,” the voice commanded.
Stop? He was here, one of them.
Alexios reached down and pulled his sword out. He studied the men that still stood. Only half of the knights and squires that rode remained alive.
The lady struggled against Sir Dunstan. For the first time since they found her she looked afraid. She understood too.
“Answer me!”
“The price,” the demon replied. It took a step forward.
The knights got ready. Alexios kept his ba
ck to it. He scanned the faces in front of him.
“The price?” the master asked.
“For bounding a demon,” the creature replied.
Alexios pondered all this.
“I…see,” the master said after a pause.
“Free me!”
“No. You will leave this world only when I tell you to do so.”
The creature howled in rage. Lady Mildryth freed herself and ran towards it.
“How do I free you?”
“Kill me.”
“Kill you?”
Alexios felt the strain on the creature’s will as it tried to hold off its master. It could not help itself. It was a slave, bound to obey the decrees of the one who brought it to this world.
“I am not of this world. Kill me. Set me free”
“Kill her! Now!”
“Lady step back!” Alexios yelled. He ran as fast as he could to save her.
He was too late. The demon lunged. It got to the girl before him. Her scream, magnified by the link they shared, thundered in Alexios’s head. He struck, a powerful blow that sank deep in to the creature’s shoulder. It bellowed but made no move to strike back. Instead it locked its gaze on his.
The knights attacked. The creature didn’t move or try to defend itself. It went down to its knees, its gaze still set on Alexios.
“Free me.”
The voice sounded distant.
Alexios pulled his sword free. He took a step back and thrust with the last of his strength. The sword pierced the creature’s chest.
It dropped dead to the ground.
You are free now.
Alexios’s hearing returned. He watched as the knights sank their blades in to the corpse. Above their cries, he though he heard a faint sigh.
Alexios stared at the Lady. She was dead. Rage surged through him. So many dead, and someone near was responsible for it all.
“Alexios.”
“Yes my Lord” he answered, his eyes still on the girl’s corpse. He looked at the knights. One of them was the creature’s master, he was sure. But it made no sense. None of them stood to gain from the deaths of Lady Mildryth, her father, brother, and Sir Edric.
No, he corrected himself. Edric’s death was not planned.
“My Lord, we failed you,” Sir Dunstan said.
“You did your duty, Sir Dunstan. Your Lord has need of you,” Lord Oswald replied, “and all of his vassals, more than ever.”
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