Clearing the Web

by Cary J Lenehan

  “Blasphemy,” interjected Vengeance. “You speak blasphemy. You should be beheaded.”

  Christopher ignored him and turned to Rani. “What will you do with him? He has committed no crimes against us, apart from his spying, so we cannot kill him, according to our law in the village so far, without committing a sin ourselves. But if you release him, you will aid the work of the devil through this Brother Job and the Masters.

  “Although it would be heresy to suggest that, because he does not know that he sins he is fully guiltless, he has as yet done nothing to break the law that you have laid out so far, which admittedly is not very much, and far less than exists in other areas.” I will ignore Christopher’s broad hints on the subject of making a new law on the spot.

  “Is there anything you have to add about your activities? Have you actually done anything to anyone here?” Vengeance shakes his head. “Then, with the concurrence of my consort,” she patted Theodora’s hand. His face shows horror… I hope that I can make you suffer… “for the moment, until we have a better solution, we temporarily condemn this man to be kept incarcerated until he sees the error of his ways and repents of his beliefs, even if that is for the rest of his life.

  “We charge you both,” she looked at Christopher and Theodule, “to try to show him how badly he is in error and to turn him from his path.” She sighed and turned to Basil. “Take him down and lock him up and ensure that Make is never allowed to be alone with him.” Basil moved to comply. “While the spell lasts, see what magic his gear holds and all those other things that policemen do.”

  She turned again to the Vengeance. “When the spell lifts, will you try and kill yourself? Will you try and escape?”

  “I was only to kill myself to stop you gaining information. You have the information. To kill myself now would be a mortal sin and I would end up beside you in hell if I killed myself. However, it was so ordered. It is my duty to escape and, as an agent of the Lord, if I cannot get home with what I know, to destroy as many of you as I can to prevent you interfering with the work of the Lord in this place.”

  “Good, then may you rot in shackles in our cells until you see the error of your path.”

  Rani turned to address the Mice. “You can see what evil exists outside of here. It is not just the bandits who were evil, and their evil was at least open. They served the same creatures as this man’s leaders do. The evil of his rulers is concealed beneath a mask of holiness that they display to the world. It is clear that both the bandits and the Brotherhood act only for the interests of the Masters, and the evil that they represent. They are the two faces of this evil.

  “It seems that the point of us waiting, that I saw in my reading, is now clear. We must stamp out all of the agents of the Masters, regardless of where they are or how powerful they are. We have cleared their agents from some of the north and, at least some from Darkreach. I think that we can trust the Emperor to remove the rest from there.

  “We still must act against those in Wolfneck, the south, and in Freehold. It is likely that none of these others are rulers where they live, but somehow our little village will have to take on the Brotherhood, or at least its leaders, and remove the influence of the Masters there.

  “Perhaps once we have done that our task will be done. It will be hard, but will only come after we have killed the dragon. If anyone has ideas on how we should do this, please come and talk with me.” She paused briefly and looked at the sky. “The day is now late. Let us have a small celebration tonight that we have taken another step against our enemies.”

  Christopher

  Basil has taken him away. I need to think and pray before I confront him again. Ayesha’s face has a look of deep concern on it. He went over to her. “What is the matter?”

  “He used words about his so-called prophets that are very similar to those that I heard from some of my teachers about our duty of obedience to the Caliph,” she said.

  “I know well that this man’s priests are evil. So, if they are evil and use the same words as those imams that taught me, does it follow that my teachers and the Caliph are also both evil? Could it be that, despite the way I feel, I am the same sort of person that he is? I pray to the most merciful Allah that this is not the case.”

  “I do not have the wisdom to answer that question of obedience for you.” Be diplomatic. “I do know that you have talked for a very long time with the imams in Darkreach on matters of faith. When you did that, did they say to you the same sort of things to you as those who taught you did?”

  After a pause Ayesha said: “No, they didn’t.” She sounds surprised with herself and her face shows signs of relief. “They talked about our individual responsibility before Allah for our own deeds, and the good or evil that we do, and ensuring the safety of the innocent, of any creed, before all else. They said the state and the ruler could only make laws that had to fit everyone, not just those of one faith. Laws could not make moral judgements on religious matters that affected only the individual and they talked a lot about mercy and compassion and understanding.”

  She sounds surprised. “They sounded more like you, as a matter of fact. I should have made sure you met some of them. I am certain that you would like each other.” I did meet them. That is why I asked you that question.

  I will ignore the compliment. “Then, if you truly believe that the Darkreach imams are good and holy men, I suggest that you try and listen to their words more than to the words of your teachers. It is even possible that some of your teachers may have been influenced by the Masters and their ideas. We do not know.”

  “They may innocently think that what they teach is the Word of God and be like Vengeance; fooled by the devil instead. It may even be that this influence is what led to the changes that took place in my Church in Freehold.”

  “I do not know these answers, and I am afraid that you will have to pray on this matter yourself. I will help you if I can, but my beliefs are different to yours. I can only try to give you honest advice, although I can tell you this much, you do not believe what I believe, but I cannot find the slightest taint of evil in your soul, and you know that I can feel that in a person, particularly one I am near for much of the time. In yourself, you are a good person and seek to fight evil. Does that help?”

  “Thank you, Father, it does. I will read my Qur’an and pray on this to Allah, the Compassionate.”

  Chapter LV

  Christopher

  20th December

  The village is turning back to its winter tasks. With Fãtima gone, the fleece is piling up and the production of cloth has slowed, but we still have some from what Carausius brought in, but Astrid complains of thinking twice before making something.

  The advent of Vengeance on our doorstep, and the menace that he represents, have made the play with the saddles and weapons both more urgent and far grimmer.

  In the meantime, Rani works the trainee mages hard on their spells, while the Princesses make more wands. Theodora confesses despair in not being able to think of any spell that will save our people from having to actually fight the dragon.

  Theodule and I spend most of our time with Vengeance. He can quote verbatim large amounts of the writing of his Prophets, but he has little exposure to the actual Bible. Apparently, it is read from very little in the Churches of the Brotherhood. When I checked with Make, she admitted that she had heard only little bits of it, usually a prohibition of some sort that is repeated after a while. The sermons are always drawn from the words of their Prophets. These are used to explain what the Bible actually means to say.

  “How can they call themselves Christian, when they ignore most of the Words of Christ?” Theodule asked.

  I have been thinking exactly the same thing. What they do to slaves they do to the least and so they do to Christ. “What they speak they even twist around to justify sin. and they ignore what is inconvenient.”
/>   Theodora

  It is nice to sit in a warm study, even if my nose is tickled by smoke from the charcoal in the brazier behind me. If we survive the dragon, we must look at some other form of heating. Behind her she could hear sounds of domesticity from the house and she could see similar scenes being enacted outside, through the small panes of glass that were bound by lead into a window in front of her.

  I have forgotten to look at that sword. I carried it all the way in my saddle bag, and it took up so much room there, ever since we killed the Wight who had it near Deathguard. What with everything else that has happened, I had completely forgotten I even had it.

  If Astrid can read the writing on the tablet at the start of the road then, perhaps, she can read what is written on the sword as well and, at any rate, Christopher should look at the magic on it. It may not help, but it is obviously a fell blade.

  She went rummaging around her house and found, eventually, that the blade had been put in the bottom of a box. Taking it in hand, she went out looking for Astrid and found her just about to set out on a hunt and to do some scouting.

  “I really do not know how your people call Darkspeech your own, when you have forgotten how to read it,” Astrid said as she traced out the words with her finger. “Look, it says clearly ‘My name is Wrath. Wayland made me. Mighty am I.’”

  “You can see it is one of our swords. It has the five lobes on top of the pommel that only our swords in Wolfneck seem to have, but we have no-one now in Wolfneck who could make something as fine as this. What is more, I have never heard of a smith called Wayland. I have seen a sword that the owner called Wrath, but it isn’t nearly as good as this one. Is that all? Can we go hunt now?”

  Theodora thanked her and went in search of Father Christopher. He and Theodule are measuring and pacing off an area outside the village wall with string and sticking sticks in to the near frozen ground. Goditha is with them and she has a large piece of vellum in her hands. The breath of everyone is steaming in the winter air. I take comfort that the weather is still far too cold to lure the dragon out of its lair. It is nearly too cold to lure me out of mine. “Fathers; are you free?”

  “Yes”, said Christopher. “We are just planning out some ideas for a basilica and a school. It will take the last of our poorer grazing land, but it is time we started to think of something more permanent than just using the hall, and it will take a long time to build it all, so we may as well start. None of us have any experience in this sort of work, and we need to think carefully about what we are going to do, and to work out what we can from our memories of other places.”

  “Then I will leave you with this sword to look at, that I brought forth from Darkreach. I keep forgetting it and Astrid has now told me what it says on it.”

  Well, that has set him off. He has left the other two and is immediately hurrying off to the chapel to see what he might found out about the old blade.

  Christopher is in a very excited state indeed. “It is strong…very strong,” he said. “It is enhanced to both add to its ability to strike a blow, and to enhance the damage when it does so. Even more important is that this Wayland made it to kill dragons and other Wyrms. Not only will it hit them easier, but, if the blow is good enough it has an enhancement on it that may…not ‘will,’ mind you…but only ‘may’…kill the beast almost instantly.”

  “I think, but only think mind you, that it may have been made for smaller beasts than ours, or perhaps ours was smaller when this was made, but if someone is brave and lucky enough to get close to such a dread beast alive and can use it against the Wyrm stoutly, then this blade has a chance of solving our problem at a single stroke.”

  He is waving the bare blade around in his fist as he speaks. “I think it is like the enchantments that you put on the maces we used against the Masters, but Wrath holds a far stronger set of charms”.

  “I thank you. Now, I need to work out if we have someone who can use it against the dragon. Do not mention this to anyone yet.”

  I will lay this one on my husband. I am the only one in the valley who can both ride a saddle well, and yet still use a sword competently, but I do not think that my love will allow me to take it into the battle on a mere chance of success.

  Rani

  This sword is both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing in that it possibly gives a means of destroying the dragon, but it is also a massive gamble, particularly for the one who will have to wield it.

  If we rely on it and it does not work for any reason, then we will lose our fight. Try as I might I can think of no smart solution to the problem. The dragon has probably destroyed armies in its past. What makes me think that a mere tiny village can come up with a way to defeat it without loss?

  In my mind, I have made up a list of who can do what in the fight to come. I dare not write it down. This sword changes everything. This is a huge risk. Princess and Stefan are the only ones who can actually use a normal sword competently. My love is not going because I need her here to go with me in a final casting.

  As for Stefan, he is not a confident flyer at all. He can travel safely and move around, but he lacks the agility that the Khitan or, in particular, Astrid have. He can really only do straight flight.

  Ruth

  Astrid can easily read what is written on that sword, can she? In among the books I am cataloguing there is an odd scrap of vellum. I thought that it was just a place marker when I put it aside, and still think that, but it has that writing on it that was meaningless to me and the Princess when I showed her. She went and found it again and took it to Astrid.

  “See…there is a large circle with nothing beside it and there are twelve small circles. Each has something written beside it in dwarf runes, but they make no sense.”

  “Of course, they make sense,” said Astrid. “Well sort of anyway. It is a list of names. I guess they are all of towns because that one,” she points to the third on the list, “says something that sounds like ‘Pavitra Phāṭaka’ if you say it, and the way I speak Hindi may be bad, but I know that is what they call Sacred Gate, and that,” she points two down, “is Ardlark, and that,” she points at the next one, “says Amtrage, and I am sure that Theodora once told us when we were in Evilhalt that that is what the town of Antdrudge in Darkreach used to be called.”

  “That one says ‘Muzel’ and that will be us in Mousehole. That one says ‘Cwyfodi Mwd’—which makes no sense at all—unless ‘Mwd’ is supposed to be ‘Mud’, in which case that could be Bryony’s village, because that is the only town I have ever heard of with ‘mud’ in its name, and even if these are old names, it has probably always been muddy. Who knows what a ‘Cwyfodi’ is? But mud would still be mud.”

  “The others” she points at them as she reads them out, “are ‘Nahmess’, ‘Khmel’, ‘Topudle’, ‘Ovendle’, ‘Graecin’, ‘Gil-Gand-Rask’ and ‘Graemsle’. You have been teaching me the geography of the Land, and there is a town called ‘Toppuddle’ in Freehold—that would be ‘Topudle.’ There is also a village there called ‘Camelback’. I am sure that would be ‘Khmel’ because that is the cloth you get from camels. I am also betting that ‘Ovendle’ is ‘Owendale’ in the Brotherhood and ‘Graecin’ is ‘Greensin’. Would ‘Graemsle’ be ‘Greatkin’?” she asked. Ruth nodded in thought.

  “We also know that there is a circle at Nameless Keep. I wonder if that is what ‘Nahmess’ has become today?” I always thought that calling a castle ‘nameless’ was very silly. What if it came from another name, and it didn’t actually mean what we thought it did?

  Ruth shrugged. “It could be, and if it is then what we have here is a list that someone, or something, wrote out of all the circles used by the Masters. You also forgot to mention Gil-Gand-Rask. It is a real place, and it still has that name. It is both the town and the island to the south of Haven.”

  What a thrill this is. “If this is what we think it is, then we d
on’t have to look for where the circles are anymore. We now know where we need to go to destroy them. I think that it is time to go and see the Princesses with this.”

  Christopher

  23rd December

  We were expecting a new round of pregnancies to be coming up soon. It seems that whatever we do here will always be limited by this factor for some time at least until the women decide that they have had enough.

  What I did not expect was who the first of the next round would be. It seems that young Valeria did more than just dance while she was in Darkreach. She came to me about a cold and I only picked up the pregnancy by accident. It is at a very early stage, and she has not mentioned it in Confession, nor has she asked me anything, so it is polite to say nothing myself. She has said nothing to Theodule either, and we agree that it is up to her to raise the matter, or at least to ask about the changes in herself. So far, she has been silent.

  Hulagu

  29th December

  There are still patches of snow lingering in shadowed places, but it seems that this is spring in the mountains. At least, like the plains, the hillsides are full of colour and now we have our trader back. I had better tell the Princesses.

  “He has a lot with him this time. Two carts as well as his packhorses, and the string of beasts that he is delivering for us, horses, cattle and sheep. There are four women and another man with him as well as the other three.”

  “He says that it his turn to be mysterious and he won’t say anything until he arrives tomorrow except that he has letters and lots of metal. He just looked smug and those idiot guards of his had big grins plastered all over their ugly faces.”