With a lurch it swung its legs off the bed and planted its feet on the floor. It raised a knife in its hand.
Dane made a split-second decision that made all the difference in the world. Telling Leech to look out would only mean he'd get the blade in his chest instead of his back. "Leech, duck," he yelled without slowing his pace.
Leech, with a blank look of surprise on his face, made as to step out of the doorway, then, just before Dane bowled into him, he obeyed and fell to a crouch. Dane leapt over him. As he hung in the air, Dane realized that all his hopes rested on the belief this thing was slow and clumsy, that it would not be able to recalculate its strike before he landed his.
He was mostly right. His weight hit the thing in its chest, slamming it backwards so that its back hit the floor and the back of its neck struck the frame of the bed. As they came down together, Dane lashed out with his left arm, hoping to deflect the arm that held the knife. He felt a searing pain just below his shoulder.
The blow he struck would have stunned (if not broken the neck of) an ordinary man; but Dane did not wait to see what effect it had had on this corpse-thing. With his left hand he grasped the wrist of the knife hand.
With a single jerk the dead-thing tore its arm from his grasp and posed for a downward jab. Dane grabbed its wrist with both hands and slammed the knife hand against the floor again and again. He doubted he was causing the creature any pain, he doubted it could feel pain, but he accomplished what he wanted - the knife struck the floor and bounced from its grip. Dane made a desperate movement with his left foot, kick-sliding the knife into the corner of the room.
Leech had leapt up and lunged for the thing, but the space was too tight to allow him to come to Dane’s aid. “What do you want me to do?” he shouted as Dane knocked the knife away.
Dane turned his head slightly towards Leech. “Kenzie’s hurt. In the courtyard.”
Leech disappeared out the doorway.
The thing grabbed Dane’s hair with its other hand and jerked him backwards, so that he fell back on top of it. He jammed his elbow into its face and rolled over so that he planted one knee in the thing's gut and the other against its shoulder. He pinned the wrists to the floor with his hands. It jerked its head forward, snarling and snapping at him. Its bite narrowly missed the knee which held its shoulder. Dane felt his stomach twist and felt bile climb his throat. He swallowed it back down and held his position.
He slid his knee down to the thing’s neck and pressed it in. He was out of reach of its teeth now. The thing laid its head down with a thump and lay still - but the stillness was almost worse than the struggling. Its wrists were naked where Dane held them. He shuddered at the feel of the skin. He was so sick with horror he doubted he could hold it much longer if it started to fight again.
Suddenly, Mirela was beside him, kneeling close. He glanced up at her, but she never even acknowledged him; she was intent on the thing on the floor. She forced her fingers between the opening of the shirt at the neck and placed her hand against the pallid chest. "I dissolve whatever claim They have on you in the grace of Other," she said. "Be at rest."
The thing went wild. Its boots thumped against the floor. It planted its feet on the floor and arched its back, trying to buck Dane off. He fell to the side, then rolled back over it, laying on it sideways, still holding its wrists. Mirela's hand never left its chest.
"Depart," she said. "And leave his body in peace."
The thing shook once more, screamed fit to burst Dane's eardrums, and lay still. Dane's rapid breathing was the only sound in the room. Mirela sat back on her haunches.
Elias was beside them in the next moment, kneeling on the opposite side of the corpse from Mirela. He was rubbing something between the thumb and fingers of his left hand. He glanced up at Mirela and she nodded. He held the object out in his hand for a second; it was a small, smooth stone. Then he placed it in the chest pocket of Markis's shirt.
Elias and Mirela rose. Dane stayed where he was. "We've already done the same for the one Bailus had at the gate," Mirela said.
"His name was Markis," Dane said without looking up.
"But this wasn't Markis," Mirela said, nodding to the thing on the floor.
"I think it's safe to let go now," Elias said.
"Are you sure?" Dane asked. "He lay still for longer than this before he jumped up and tried to kill Leech."
"Take any precautions you want," Elias said.
"You're bleeding," Leech said, stepping beside Elias.
"It's nothing," Dane said. "Kenzie's dead?"
Leech nodded. "They've laid him outside. Franklin, too."
They laid the three bodies on three beds against the wall of the infirmary.
"Would you be offended if I bound them?" Dane asked Elias.
"Not at all," Elias said. "I've never had to try to get a dead man to stop moving before, so I don't know how successful I was." He gave a high little laugh that was all nerves and turned his face away. "I'm sorry," he said.
"Don't worry about it," Dane said. Hadn't he heard that laugh often enough on the battlefield? "You did more than anyone could have asked of you."
Dane glanced around for Mirela but did not see her. He bound the ankles of Markis and Franklin first. He debated tying their hands behind their backs but decided instead to tie them at the wrists with their arms laid over their bodies. This seemed a more natural pose for one about to be buried. He covered them with sheets.
He looked at Kenzie. Someone had bandaged the wound at his neck but this was merely cosmetic. There had never been any chance of saving him. Dane debated in his mind as to whether he should bind Kenzie's hands and feet or not. He turned to Elias. "Do you think they can do the same thing to him?"
Elias shook his head. "Whoever did this had more power in the dark arts than I've ever seen. Maybe more than I've ever even heard of. But I'm sure they had to touch the bodies to lay their spells on them."
"So that's what it was?" Dane said. "Some spell that gave them control over their bodies so they could drive them around like -."
"Puppets," said a voice behind them.
They turned to see Rawl standing in the doorway.
"I knew as soon as I saw Markis stumbling towards the gate that his actions reminded me of something. I just couldn't place it. I know it now, though - it was the puppet show at your father's birthday celebration all those years ago. I was only a kid then. I talked about that show for weeks afterward."
Dane felt sick as he pulled the sheet over Kenzie's body.
"And, sir," Rawl said, "Eddie's still out there."
"Who knows what they'll try to do with his body," Leech said.
"Whatever it is," Dane said, "We'll be ready for it."
He had no idea how wrong he was.
XIII
Eddie
"Let me look at your arm," Leech said to Dane.
Dane glanced at the still, sheet-draped forms of his men. "Can we do it somewhere else?"
"My room," Leech said.
Dane was the last to leave the infirmary. He stole one last look at the cloth-shrouded bodies as he closed the door. He shivered as he crossed to Leech's room.
It did not take Leech long to clean and dress the wound, not as long as Dane would have liked. He knew the night must only be half over but he could not let himself sleep. Rawl was right. Eddie, or more correctly, Eddie's body, was still out there and it seemed likely whoever was doing this would try to use it against them before daybreak.
Dane passed the time circling the wall-walk, encouraging the sentries, relighting or replacing torches that burned low. He spent every lonely minute trying to guess how they would use Eddie against them, but in all his horrible thoughts and conjectures he never even came close.
He thought about Mirela. Why did she risk herself to help them? Why did she help them at all? And why had she disappeared so quickly after exorcising whatever had held Markis? The woman was a mystery to him - one that made him both uncomfortable and excite
d. He leaned against the parapet. For all his wondering and worrying, sleep was taking hold of him.
He did not know if he had dozed off or simply closed his eyes when he was roused suddenly by raised voices. He spun around; the voices were coming from Joseph's position on the opposite side of the wall. He was shouting a warning and at the same time shouting for help. His shouts for help were launched back over his shoulder into the compound. The shouts of warning were directed at something on the other side of the wall.
Dane did not even take the time to look for the nearest ladder. He leapt from the wall-walk, falling through the darkness to land ten feet below on his feet. He was instantly running. Joseph's cries were louder now, more frantic.
***
Joseph had been patrolling the wall-walk above the gate when he saw a dark shape materialize from the fog and break from the trees. He spun towards it, brining up his crossbow as he did. He paused with his finger on the trigger. Even in the dark and fog, he recognized the figure.
"Halt," he cried.
The figure did not stop; it came right to the foot of the wall and pounded on the gate.
"Step away from the gate," Joseph called down.
"Open the gate," Edric shouted from below. "Open the gate. They're right behind me."
Joseph glanced at the silent, mist-shrouded trees but saw no one. He looked back to Edric. He had to lean uncomfortably over the battlement to see him at all. "Step away from the wall."
Edric's fists continued hammering on the gate. Joseph wondered if the thing that drove Edric’s body was capable of beating it down. "Help," he yelled over his shoulder. "Dane, Elias." He had no idea if either man was still awake or within hearing.
"Joseph, is that you?" Edric called up. "Joseph, please, open the gate right now." His voice was miserable.
"I can't," Joseph said. "Wait till Dane and Elias get here, they can help you."
Something about Edric changed. "What the hell do you mean they can help me? You're the one standing there! Open the gate. I just need you to let me in."
"That's all Frankie and Markis wanted, too," Joseph said, more to himself than to Edric.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"They can help you."
Edric stepped back from the wall. Joseph breathed a sigh of relief. Then Edric looked up at him. Joseph’s breath caught in his throat. Edric’s face was a mask of madness.
"Joseph, you little pissant, open this gate or I swear I'll kill you as soon as I get in."
"Peace," Joseph said. "Be at rest." Was that right? What was it Mara had said to Frankie's body?
"You jackass," Edric said. "You think this is funny? I'll tear your throat out with my bare hands."
Then Edric did something terrible. He began to climb the wall.
The wall was made of tree trunks shaved smooth and anchored in the ground and held together by ropes. Edric was using the ropes as footholds and wedging his hands between gaps in the trunks. He only made it a few feet before he slipped. He immediately started climbing again.
Joseph swore and brought his bow to his shoulder. Edric's climbing was clumsy, but in Joseph's state of mind it seemed a feat of supernatural determination.
"Step down and away from the wall."
Edric was halfway up the fifteen foot palisade.
"Get down or I swear I'll shoot."
Edric ignored him.
In the back of his mind, Joseph could hear the footfalls of the other sentries as they ran to his aid. He knew they wouldn't reach him in time. He aimed at Edric's arm, hoping to disable him. As he pulled the trigger, Edric slipped. He kept his handhold on the wall but he fell flat against it so that Joseph's bolt passed by him and buried itself in the dirt at the foot of the wall.
Joseph swore and dropped down onto the wall-walk to reload. He put the butt of the bow between his feet and pushed the string into place. As he swung the bow around, he placed a bolt in the slot with shaking fingers. He almost screamed when he looked back over the wall. Edric was so close he could have reached down and touched his helmeted head.
Edric looked up, teeth bared, eyes wild. "Kill you," he gasped.
Joseph took aim. He closed his eyes as he pulled the trigger. The bolt went in through Edric's helmet with a dull thunk. His body dropped from the wall like a stone and landed in a twisted heap at the foot of the palisade.
In that instant the other sentries arrived at Joseph’s side. Dane swung himself up onto the wall from below without bothering to use the ladder. Joseph sunk to his knees and then lower still, pulling his knees up against his chest.
Dane didn't pause to ask him what had happened. He stepped to the wall and looked over. He turned back to Joseph. "Edric?"
Joseph nodded.
Dane patted him on the shoulder.
"Should we open the gate and go out there, sir?" Ira Scott asked.
"No," Dane said. "If he's like the others, Joseph's bolt won't have done anything. He'll just be faking. We can't risk opening the gate."
"But what'll we do?"
"Get me a rope," Dane said.
When they had brought him a rope he tied it to two of the poles of the palisade and threw the other end over the wall. He turned to the men beside him. "If he gets up, you cut the rope. Don't hesitate."
"But, sir," Ira said.
"Don't hesitate," Dane said, mounting the battlement and taking hold of the rope.
"But, sir, what about you?"
"I'll take my chances," Dane said. Then he dropped down the outside of the wall.
As he slid down the rope, he heard more men arriving at the battlement above him. He reached the bottom and backed away. He stood still for a moment, watching Edric's body. The body lay face down with its legs curled under it. Dane thought it could spring up suddenly from that position any time it wanted.
The thing did not stir. Dane had almost hoped it would. The waiting was the worst. When he could stand it no longer he stepped up, took hold of Edric's shoulder, and rolled him over. He started back.
"Elias is on his way out, sir," Ira shouted from above. "He has his stones."
Dane straightened up but did not look up at the wall; he stayed staring at the thing that had been Edric. "There's no need for Elias to do anything but bury him," he got out.
"What do you mean, sir?"
Dane sank to a sitting position because the adrenaline was receding now, being replaced by a rising sense of horror.
"His body's still warm."
***
It was Bailus who ordered the gate open.
Dane sat in the dirt with his hands on his head staring at nothing as Bailus and four men with a stretcher filed out. The bearers laid the litter on the ground beside Edric's body and lifted him onto it. They stepped past Dane and reentered the compound.
Bailus stepped up beside Dane. He was silent for a moment, looking at the stars. "You planning to stay out here all night?" he said, without looking at Dane.
"What difference does it make?" Dane said.
Bailus looked down at him, seeing only his hands and the back of his head. "It would make a difference to me." He followed the stretcher bearers back through the gate.
Dane waited until Bailus was inside. The gate remained open. Slowly, he got to his feet and walked back into the settlement.
Joseph had not moved from his position on the wall. Aaron, Edric's cousin, was standing nearest the gate as the stretcher was carried through.
"No," he said, shaking his head. "No. This can't be."
Fish, the cook, moved to put their hand on Aaron’s shoulder but he brushed him away. "He murdered him," he shouted, pointing up at Joseph. "You murdered him."
Fish and Fletcher Dibsy stepped between Aaron and the steps to the wall, putting out hands to steady and stop him. But instead of charging up the steps for Joseph, Aaron turned and ran the other way.
"Let him go," Bailus said.
And so no one followed him to see where he went and that nearly proved to be the third
fatal mistake of the night.
Dane placed a hand on the wall and leaned against it with his head down while his men shut the gate. Elias came up beside him. "Do you still want to hike to the temple tomorrow?"
"What choice do we have?" Dane said. "It may be our only chance to break this power."
Elias remained beside him. "Do not blame yourself for this," he said. "It was not your fault. It was not Joseph's fault. We were set up for this."
Dane turned towards him. "You think they planned this? You think they're that smart?"
Elias looked at him squarely. "They’ve been playing with us since before we got here. They’re every bit as smart as we are, and a whole lot meaner."
An hour later, Dane was in his room, staring into the fire. He had tried to sleep. As soon as he had moved away from the gate he had stumbled with weariness and Bailus had all but ordered him to get some sleep. But sleep would not come. He thought if he did not think about it perhaps it would sneak up on him. At any rate, sitting here by the fire and thinking about nothing was better than tossing and turning and hoping for a deep dreamless sleep.
A knock on his door roused him. He dreaded to open it. What would it be this time? He was surprised to find Joseph standing there, looking pale but very serious.
"Sir, I'm here to turn myself in," he said before Dane could speak.
"You haven't done anything wrong," Dane said with difficulty. It was not that he blamed Joseph, he was just so weary of life it was hard to say anything.
"Sir, I want you to lock me up until you can convene the military court to try my case."
"Forget it."
“I'll accept any punishment you deem necessary. Flogging." He hesitated. "Even death."
"Go back and sleep, Joseph. And get some for me while you're at it.”
"There's a holding cell built into the wall. I want you to place me there."
"I won't do that to you."
"Do that to me? I'm asking you to do it for me. I'd rather be there than back on the wall, a million times over. He was asking me to help him. That's all he wanted. He was terrified - I know that's all that was wrong with him now. He was begging me to help him. And I, oh god, I, god…" Joseph started to cry. Not weeping, just a soft, horrible kind of crying with his hand rubbing circles over his eyes. Dane did not feel ashamed to stand there watching this. But it made him angry. Furious. But not at Joseph.
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