A Hero's throne tae-2

by Ross Lawhead

  “I run to him and kneel, but I know before I am within a pace of him that he is gone. I put a hand beneath my faithful servant’s head and feel a knife at my neck.” Frithfroth raised his hand and tilted his head upward.

  “It is Cnafa. His dagger drips dark blood down my chest-not my own, but that of his brother. I demand to know the reason.

  “‘I serve the ruler of Ni?ergeard,’ he tells me insolently. ‘His wishes are my orders.’

  “I spit on his orders. A swarm of yfelgopes envelop me and I am taken to Kelm, also called Kafhand, who stands beneath the arch of the inner wall. It is the first time I have seen him. He is massive and terrible, like the face of God’s wrath. Behind him stands the yfelgop forces, and before them, pushed into the ground, are the people of Ni?ergeard.

  “Kelm the conqueror looks at me with killing eyes. ‘Where is the woman Modwyn?’ he demands.

  “‘By now she will be safely far away,’ I answer.

  “‘Remove his left hand.’”

  Vivienne gasped as Frithfroth stretched out his stump of a left arm. “A sword and a fire are brought; the one heats the other until it is red hot. The swordsman is skilful and strong, his cut swift and clean.” His eyes poured tears as he retracted his arm.

  “Through the fog of pain, Kelm speaks to me once again. ‘Where is the woman, Modwyn? Where is the man, Godmund? Tell me.’

  “For the second time, I spit on his wishes.

  “‘Remove his right hand.’”

  Frithfroth raised his other arm. “It is strange. I can feel my fingers, feel my fists clench, but neither are there.”

  The door out of the Langtorr was open, just a crack, perhaps not even wide enough for one person to slip in. The patch of stone just inside of it where Breca and Cnapa had died was stained dark. They looked out to the deserted city. Silver lamps from building fixtures, half buried in rubble, threw light onto ruined streets and buildings.

  “What happened then?” Vivienne asked.

  Frithfroth swallowed, blinked, and then looked at them all. He had returned to them from the past. “There is a mighty shaking. All of those within the inner courtyard, all of those except for me, fall instantly dead. Those holding me drop to either side, just as my severed hands had, and as lifeless.

  “Kelm, standing just feet away on the other side of the gate, is taken aback. As I rise to my feet and run back to the tower, I hear him give an order to pursue. I leap over the body of the traitorous Cnafa on my flight back to safety, straining for every inch.

  “Only when I reach the tower’s doors and hear no sound of pursuit do I risk a look back. Those who had followed Kelm’s orders had fallen upon crossing the threshold. Kelm just stands, frozen, not sure if he himself should risk crossing. I come in, push the doors together with my shoulders, and fall senseless.”

  Frithfroth’s head tilted downward. “I have been here in the years since. Ealdstan is departed now-this is the age of Gad Gristgrennar. The city is in ruin. They ravaged it after their victory. I could hear them. . collapsing buildings, attacking the statues. The first thing they did was to raise a hero’s throne-to elevate it higher than the buildings around it. And they cheered Kelm as he mounted it.”

  Frithfroth fell silent. After a time it became clear that he was finished.

  “So what about Godmund?” Freya asked. “Where is he?”

  Frithfroth shook his head. “Truly, I do not have any notion. He is not in the tower. I assumed he escaped and that he would return after rousing an army, but time passes and he remains unseen. . Perhaps he was slain after all.”

  "What was it that killed everybody-that stopped them from entering the tower?" Daniel asked.

  "That was Modwyn's power. Her last gift before she left."

  "She's gone too?"

  "Yes," said Frithfroth despondently. "She, too, is gone."

  “You said ‘the age of Gad’ just now,” Vivienne said. She had been inspecting the large tapestries that were hanging off the wall but turned to face Frithfroth. “What do you mean by that?”

  “Is that not apparent? He rules here.”

  “No,” Daniel said. “Frithfroth, I’m sorry for not returning earlier, but. . Gad’s dead. I killed his heart. Freya saw him die. Right, Freya? Tell him.”

  Frithfroth turned his lifeless eyes toward her. She nodded. “Yes, that’s right,” she said, meekly lying.

  “Is Kelm still out there?” Daniel asked.

  “Yes,” Frithfroth said in a low tone.

  “Who else commands the yfelgopes besides Kelm?”

  “Where are you going with this, Daniel?” Vivienne asked.

  “Information. We came here for information, right? What about it, Frithfroth?”

  “Kelm is the only one who orders them. There are no captains or lieutenants, as far as I can make out.”

  Daniel was walking back and forth in the entryway, craning his neck to see more of what lay beyond the large doors. “Is there any chance that he would know that we’re here?” he asked.

  “If you entered by the upper door, I do not know of one.”

  Daniel turned, excited, his hands opening and closing at his side. “We can take him off guard!” he exclaimed in a hushed voice. “We can defeat the yfelgopes by cutting off their head-killing their leader!”

  “I’m not sure, Daniel. .” Vivienne said.

  “No,” said Freya, as firmly as she could, turning and coming back to the centre of the room. “We should stay here. There’s more going on than we know; we should find out what it is.”

  “We know enough. We know how Ni?ergeard got taken; we know that Kelm’s here. If we go fast, we can find him, kill him, and hole up back here and wait for Ecgbryt and Alex to arrive.”

  “But then what would the yfelgopes do?” Freya asked. “There’s no telling how they’d react. They could completely flip out-run away, chase after us-it’s not in the plan.”

  “The plan is to liberate Ni?ergeard, and this is a way to do it.”

  “No, we’ve got to wait here for help.”

  Daniel smirked at her. “I guess people don’t really change,” he said after a moment. “Viv, you agree with me, right?”

  Vivienne looked from Daniel to Freya and then back. Her concerned, puzzled face was a rigid mask. “Actually, no,” she said. “Daniel, there’s no rush. We can look around here, and-”

  “There’s every reason to rush! We’ll have him off guard! We can get a start on liberating the city. This is why we came here.”

  “No, it’s not. We came here for information, first and foremost,” Vivienne said forcefully. “Everything else happens afterward.”

  Daniel turned to look out into Ni?ergeard again. “Well, I’m going to do it. I don’t care what you say.”

  “Daniel, please,” Freya pleaded. “It’s really too dangerous out there. You don’t know-”

  “I’ll be fine, Freya, really,” Daniel said condescendingly. “It’s sweet of you to worry, but I can handle myself.”

  No, Freya thought, people really don’t change. She recognised a crazy look in his eyes. He’d caught the scent of the quest again. He wanted to do something heroic. This is getting out of hand. .

  “Daniel.” She hesitated. “Both of you-there’s something I need to tell you. You aren’t going to think. . You’re not going to be too thrilled.”

  “Well? What is it?”

  “Daniel. . Gad’s not dead. When you killed that. . thing, he didn’t die.”

  Daniel frowned in confusion. “What? No. . What-what do you mean?”

  “He’s not dead-you didn’t kill him. Daniel, you failed; we all did. Gad’s alive.”

  Daniel’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly.

  “Why didn’t you speak of this before?” Vivienne said in a grave voice.

  “Because-I’m not sure I disagree with him. He said things that made a lot of sense.”

  “But he killed Swi?gar, Freya,” Daniel said, staring at her in disbelief.

  “I know
, but. . well, Swi?gar attacked him. We all did. What right did we have to go out and try to kill him?”

  “Are you working with Gad? Is that it?” Daniel asked.

  “No, of course not. Of course I’m not saying that. It’s just-I think we should reevaluate what we think we’re doing down here and why.”

  Daniel goggled at her. “Reevaluate?”

  Frithfroth stood there, motionless except for very small swaying movements. If he had been following their conversation, if anything that Freya had revealed had made any impact on him at all, he did not give any sign.

  “Freya, why didn’t you bring this up before?” Vivienne sighed, putting a hand to her temple. “Ecgbryt and Alex have just charged off completely unprepared! You’ve endangered their lives by sending them off without adequate knowledge or preparation.”

  “‘I. . I. .”

  Flushed and furious, Daniel glared angrily at Freya. He suddenly rushed at her, drawing his sword.

  “Daniel! No!” Vivienne threw herself forward, knocking into Daniel and holding him back. Daniel struggled, and either his heart was not in it, or Vivienne was stronger than she looked.

  “What are you going to do? Kill me?” Freya shouted. “You psychopath!”

  “You’re a traitor!”

  “A traitor to what?” Freya said, spreading her arms. “Look around. To this? A moldy old building? An old man who trapped and manipulated us?”

  “Yeah, that seems to happen a lot to you. You keep harping on about it, but what makes Ealdstan any worse than Gad or Professor Stowe?”

  “Honestly? Neither of them asked me to kill anyone.”

  Daniel sneered at her.

  Freya raised a finger accusingly. “Do you really hate me now or what? What is this anger? Where does it come from? It’s not just good and bad out there, Daniel-as much as you’d like it to be! This is real life, and it’s messy.”

  “Then why are you the one who’s least willing to get dirty?” He relaxed and Vivienne released him. Daniel turned away.

  “Freya,” Vivienne said in a low voice. “This is catastrophic. Gad makes everything worse. If we’d known he was still running around-there’s no telling what he could be up to. He’s had eight years. Running amok. Plotting. Planning.”

  “Better him than Ealdstan,” Freya said hotly. It was all starting to pour out now. “This city. . this city is an occupying force-stockpiling warriors, against what? What’s it all for? All the lies, using us-Daniel and me-to kill an old man. That’s not the side I want to be on.”

  “But Swi?gar and Ecgbryt. What about them? Modwyn? Your friends?”

  “They’re not my friends. I don’t trust them, I don’t know them; they don’t know me.”

  “What about me?” Daniel asked.

  “You? You who just pulled a sword on me?”

  “Quiet, both of you, quiet!” Vivienne said. “Let’s think about this.”

  Freya and Daniel silently retreated to opposite sides of the room.

  “It actually changes nothing,” she said.

  “What?” Daniel said as Freya turned back to Vivienne.

  “It changes nothing,” Vivienne repeated.

  “It changes everything,” Daniel said.

  “We carry on as before. Same plan. It’s just-the stakes are higher now. The potential danger greater. But our goals are the same.”

  “Right,” Daniel said. “Which makes it all the more important that I kill Kelm. Or Gad, if I can find him.”

  “No, don’t do that.”

  “What? Vivienne. .”

  “Daniel, we don’t have a strategy for that. Be reasonable. Our first priority is to investigate this tower, try to see if there’s anything in Ealdstan’s writings that would indicate where he’s gone or if he’s prepared any fail-safes for such a situation. Then we’re to look into finding the Carnyx-to see if it will summon the knights. Then we should find Godmund and Modwyn-they will no doubt have information vital to tactics and the lay of the land.”

  “Sounds fascinating. I tell you what. . you two can do that, I’ll do my thing. And don’t worry, I won’t just charge off. I’ll study the yfelgopes here in the city. I’ll observe them from the windows, get their movements and rhythms, all with a view to taking down Kelm and his boss as soon as possible.” He turned his open gaze from Freya to Vivienne.

  “Why don’t you go looking for the Carnyx?” Vivienne asked.

  “We’ll have plenty of time for scavenger hunts if we can deal with the single greatest threat to our safety and that of the overworld-namely Gad and Kelm. Come on, you know it makes sense!”

  “Well. . look into it, but come see me first if you decide on leaving the Langtorr,” Vivienne said haltingly.

  Daniel hesitated for just the briefest of moments. “Of course. Of course I will.”

  “If any of you do leave the threshold of the tower forecourt. .” Frithfroth said abruptly, making them all start. “I would not risk coming back. All who pass the threshold die.”

  “Except for you,” Daniel said. “I’m going up. Don’t bother me.” With another long look back at Freya, he resettled his backpack on his shoulders and started trudging up the stairs.

  Vivienne turned to Freya. “We’ll talk more about this later,” she said. “For now, let’s hear Frithfroth out on what happened here.”

  IV

  Ecgbryt and Alex stood over the corpses of six black bears. That was good. Alex was worried that the bodies would turn back into men when they died-which would have been more troublesome for them. People would want to find them very quickly in order to ask some very urgent questions if six people were found dead. But as it was, half a dozen slaughtered bears were more of a strange puzzle than an act of mass murder.

  They were shaking as they took stock. Neither of them had so much as a scratch, although there were some bruises. When Alex ran out of bullets, he had dropped the gun and drawn his sword, which was strapped to his back. Alloyed steel and custom craftsmanship made it sharp and deadly. Even if he wasn’t as practised with it as Ecgbryt was with his axe, he was still very capable.

  They retreated past the standing stones and toward the trees, their backs almost edging up along the black metal rail fence that surrounded the Rollright Stones. Getting backed into a corner was not ideal in most circumstances, but in this instance it was preferable to being surrounded.

  Alex’s arms ached; swinging that sword through fur, muscle, and bone was hard work. He was buzzing from adrenaline, panting, his arms and shoulders on fire; it was a good feeling.

  Ecgbryt cleaned his blade and was sliding it back into the holster he wore on his back, underneath his coat.

  “Shall we try to hide them?” Alex asked. “Half a dozen fivehundred-pound bears are quite the handful.”

  Ecgbryt considered and then shook his head. “Leave them here. We should be away.”

  “The RSPCA will be hot, no doubt. Do you think they’ll turn human again when daylight hits?”

  “We’re not going to be around to see it if they do. Come. The survival of young Daniel and Freya depends on our swift movements hereafter. I do not wish to storm the city, only to be greeted by their lifeless corpses hanging off the main gates.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Assassin

  I

  “The boy is very impatient,” Frithfroth said.

  “You’re not wrong there,” Vivienne assented.

  “His blood runs hot-too hot. It boils and rises to his eyes in a mist. When it leaves, it leaves him empty, so empty. I have seen men chase after such heat. I hope it will not be his ruin.”

  “Tell us what happened, Frithfroth. How Ni?ergeard fell, if they could not take the Langtorr.”

  As an answer, Frithfroth crossed over to one of the tapestries hanging at an angle. He pushed up a corner to show a dark archway. He slipped through it and the tapestry fell back to its skewed position. Freya and Vivienne traded apprehensive looks, and then Vivienne crossed over and pulled back the thick wov
en cloth.

  Swallowing hard, Freya ducked under the faded cloth, which smelled of rot and mold. Descending a curved stairway, the two women gradually lowered themselves into the thick, sharp smell of death that seemed to rise up in a cloud around them. They blocked their noses, but it crept into every breath they were forced to take. It stung their eyes and made their skin crawl. It was like a slap in the face.

  “This was our last defense,” Frithfroth said, apparently oblivious or immune to the stench. “After finding Ealdstan departed, Godmund grew desperate. He spouted betrayal, deceit, perversion.” The staircase wound down and then opened into a wide, semi-spherical room. It was aglow with hundreds of silver lamps arranged along walls and pillars. The light that shone from them fell upon four concentric circles, each with a low stone slab cut to contain a man, but rising only a couple inches in height off the ground.

  There were one hundred and five sleeping spaces arranged in four concentric circles-seven in the inner ring, twice that in the next, and doubling again and again in the next two rings. A circular dais was raised in the centre, and on it, a stone throne.

  “This is the Sl?pereshus-the Chamber of the Sleepers,” Frithfroth said. “These are the elite of all of the sleepers in this isle. Their deeds are celebrated in myth and legend. Over fifty from the fields of Agincourt. Nearly thirty from the first crusade. One dozen and two from Horsa’s men, and seven knights of the table. All of them surrounding the hero who wore a dragon’s helm. Sleeping all not just for the nation’s greatest need, but for Ni?ergeard’s.”

  However glorious it sounded and once may have looked, it was a slaughterhouse now. The biers were covered with the mangled remnants of the bodies they once held in state. The skin and flesh were beyond decay-black and leathery in some instances, or already decomposed. Bones could be seen, but not the clean, white bones in movies and on TV-these bones were brown and corrupted, with leathery flesh still hanging on to them. Forms could really only be made out by the clothing and armour that the bodies once occupied. Some heads appeared to be absent. Some biers only bore a shattered weapon or a broken shield.