Return of the Crimson Guard: A Novel of the Malazan Empire

by Ian C. Esslemont

  ‘No, I wouldn't. Unless there was trouble. Don't like trouble.’

  The captain brightened. ‘No trouble at all, Smithy. No trouble at all. Just come to do some salvage work here in the harbour. Gettin’ a little low on funds these days, I am.’

  ‘Because the blasted hold is empty, that's why!’ the sailor screamed. ‘You damned senile—’

  A wooden belaying pin ricocheted from the sailor's head; he disappeared behind the gunwale. The captain lowered his arm. ‘Quiet, Tillin. Won't have no insolence on board the Ragstopper.’

  Sergeant Tinsmith gave a long slow shake of his head. ‘Haven't changed a bit I see, Cartharon.’

  Captain Cartharon's smile was savage. ‘Caught you a few times, hey, Smithy? I never miss.’

  On the way back to the Figurehead, Hands asked Tinsmith, ‘What did that crazy old guy mean, he was after salvage in the harbour?’

  Tinsmith traced a finger over his moustache. ‘Salvage. There's more cargo ‘n’ ships sunk in this bay than anyone can guess and that old guy had a hand in the sinking of most of it. Maybe just for such an eventuality. Anyways, we'll keep a close eye on him. And Hands …’

  ‘Yes, sir?’

  ‘That name stays with us in the company.’

  ‘Yes, sir. Why? Might someone recognize it?’

  At the door to the guardhouse the old sergeant stopped. He watched his corporal for a time, an unreadable expression on his long dour face. ‘Double the watch, corporal. I'll be inside. I need a drink.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  * * *

  More than just Kyle were relieved when it became clear that Skinner intended to keep to the ruins that had once been Fortress Haven. But it did make life hard for Kyle for a number of days as second and third investiture men – all those recruited into the Guard since the original Vow – kept coming around asking what the man was like. ‘Pretty damned scary’ was the answer they liked the best. Skinner had brought through a few of his Avowed. Names the Guardsmen whispered around the campfires in tones of awe: a Kartoolan master swordsman named Shijel, and a Napan named Black the Lesser. He'd also brought over his own personal bodyguard of Avowed mages, Mara, Gwynn and Petal, all of whom, Stoop said, now stayed busy masking everyone's presence from any sorcerous probings. Shimmer once came ashore and climbed the stairs into the ruins for a meet. Kyle wondered if was just him, but when she'd come back down she'd looked shaken.

  Another ship had arrived. A foreign vessel storm-battered and listing, its masts shattered. Rumour was the twelve Avowed it held had rowed night and day across half the world. Coming ashore they'd looked the part – emaciated, exhausted, dressed in rags. But the second and third investiture men were jubilant. Apparently the number of Avowed now with the Guard had passed seventy. The men were of the opinion that nothing would stop them now. Kyle couldn't help reflecting that while he knew the Avowed were the nastiest news around, why did it look like they always had their arses kicked?

  The days passed in a numbing round of training and practice. New recruits had to be integrated into the Guard. More local recruits came trickling in from the upriver settlements, small villages and homesteads, all eager to join – if only for the chance to get away from their lives here – but numbering far fewer than Kyle thought Shimmer and other of the Avowed had expected.

  Two weeks after Skinner's arrival, word came that the other ships of the crossing from Bael were now close after having stopped for repairs and that not one had been lost in the storms. It seemed that the sea was inclined to be kind to the Guard. That night in the squad's shared hut Stoop woke Kyle when he jerked upright from his blankets cursing as if burned. ‘What is it?’ Kyle whispered.

  ‘Nothing,’ he answered, surprised to see Kyle awake. ‘Get back to sleep.’

  Kyle lay down but kept one eye open. Stoop dressed hurredly, then stamped out into the night. After debating things for a time Kyle finally threw himself out after him. He was bored, frankly, and Stalker had warned him to keep an eye out for anything unusual.

  He found that he'd waited too long; Stoop was out of sight. The old saboteur had been heading into the woods though. Kyle snuck along, easily evading one picket. He was surprised, and a little disappointed, to find that while these Guardsmen might be hardened professional soldiers, woodsmen or scouts they certainly weren't. Lying still on the cold damp moss he stilled his breath and listened – after his hearing adjusted to the night sounds he heard voices murmuring deeper into the woods. Staying low, he edged ahead.

  As it turned out he needn't have worried about sneaking up: a full-blown argument between three Avowed was raging in a clearing of tall weeds. Stoop was there, with Skinner and, the hairs on Kyle's forearms rose in a tingle, Cowl. What was he doing here? Last he'd heard that man should be days from shore.

  ‘I don't like the way talk here's going, Cowl,’ Stoop was saying. ‘We have to keep up the search for the Duke.’

  ‘That's always been your priority, Stoop,’ Cowl answered, sounding dismissive. ‘What about you, Skinner? What's your opinion on the matter?’

  ‘There is no need. The Dolmans remain.’

  ‘No need?’ Stoop echoed outraged. ‘What in Hood's grin does that mean? Dolmans? What're you two dancing around here like a couple o’ Talian whores?’

  ‘Dancing around?’ asked Cowl. ‘Why nothing, Stoop. There can't be anything hidden between us old campaigners, now can there?’

  ‘Then why bar all our brothers and sisters from this meet? Even the Brethren?’

  The Guard's High Mage and Master Assassin eyed Stoop in silence. He clasped his hands behind his back. Skinner, for his part, hadn't moved the entire time Kyle had been watching; the man stood with his arms crossed, feet planted firmly wide apart, as still as a statue of iron. ‘This is a command discussion between myself and Skinner,’ Cowl finally said.

  ‘Don't pull that shit with me,’ Stoop answered. ‘I was siegemaster to K'azz and his father afore him. Strickly speaking I out-rank you.’

  Kyle was amazed; siegemaster to the Guard? He wished he'd paid more attention when the old man had held forth on various topics the way he always seemed to.

  Cowl now paced the clearing, a gloved hand brushing at the dark tattoos down his chin. ‘Yes, now that you bring that up, that does remain a problem for us. What to do about it, hmm, Stoop?’

  The old saboteur eyed Cowl, puzzled. ‘What're you gettin’ at?’

  The mage's pacing had brought him to a point where Skinner now stood to Stoop's rear. Kyle saw it even as it happened. The huge commander moved with astonishing speed; he drew and thrust in one move, his blade bursting through Stoop's chest. Kyle gasped as if that very blade had pierced him.

  The mage's gaze snapped to the brush disguising Kyle's hiding place. ‘Finish Stoop,’ he snarled. ‘I'll deal with this one.’

  Kyle could only stare, stunned, utterly immobile. What was going on? He knew he should run, but how could he possibly escape the Guard's premier mage and assassin? Stoop broke the spell by lashing out and slapping his hand to Cowl's wrist.

  ‘Takes more than that to kill an Avowed, Cowl,’ he ground out through clenched teeth. Or have you fogotten?’

  Skinner tore his blade free. Stoop grunted but held on. ‘Run lad! I've got a good grip o’ this snake.’

  ‘Finish him!’ Cowl bellowed to Skinner.

  Kyle ran. In the clearing behind, Skinner raised his blade.

  Not far from the clearing a huge figure rose from the darkness to take Kyle's arm. His heart jumping to his throat, Kyle moved to draw his weapon – the man's hand shifted to push the blade down in its sheath. ‘What's the fright, lad?’ the figure asked.

  Kyle saw it was Greymane, Ogilvy, the Genabackan veteran, with him and he struggled to find the words. ‘Back in the woods – Skinner killed Stoop! He and Cowl!’

  Greymane's gaze flicked to Ogilvy. ‘We heard nothing.’

  ‘They're coming … please!’

  Greymane rubbed a finger along his flattened
broken nose in thought. A nod of his head gave Kyle permission to pass. ‘I'll see about this. You go on now.’

  Kyle ran, not pausing to thank the man. He struck south through the gloom of the woods, avoiding any trail, trusting to the broken moonlight to guide his path. At times he thought he glimpsed figures moving through the dense forest around him. At other times magery flashed in the distances, killing his night vision, and echoing distant thunder. He had no idea why Cowl nor any of the other Guard mages had not yet found him. There must be some explanation. But for now he had no time to think about such things. Now, all that concerned him was when to end this diversion south to strike west into the interior, and how long could he keep this punishing pace given the weeks spent crammed in that ship? He also tried not to think about just how many Guardsmen and Avowed might be at this moment on his trail.

  Kyle had grown up running; for days on end he'd jogged after game across the plains of his youth. He'd run from and chased the raiding parties of neighbouring tribes. That sinewy endurance saw him through now, as it was not until the night of the third day of alternating dog-trotting and running that his numb legs collapsed under him and he was too exhausted even to push himself up. He slept where he fell.

  While Kyle's body may have been drained beyond all exhaustion, his mind was not. Strange, otherwordly dreams possessed him. Images and colours swirled before his mind's eye. He dreamed the darkness that filled his vision assaulted him; he fought it with a power that drove it back yet entities emerged from within to attack. He and they fought with all manner of limbs, talons, claws and teeth. They wrapped themselves around each other squeezing and tearing. Shapes blended, melded, in a ferocious roiling battle in a dark sky that seemed to have no end or beginning. The enormity of the confrontation numbed him; he could not grasp it. He seemed to float for a time, insensate.

  Then, in his dreams it was as if Stoop was still alive: the old saboteur came and knelt at his side. ‘Time to wake up, lad,’ he said. ‘The enemy's coming. T'ain't safe. This is my last warning, I'm sorry. That snake Cowl's sent me off. But I promise I'll try to make it back. Now, wake up – they've found you’

  Coughing, groaning, Kyle forced open his eyes and he awoke wincing, surprised that he was still alive, the sun high. He was not alone; a Dal Hon woman stood to one side, hands hidden in the folds of her robes that she wore bunched over one shoulder. Her kinky black hair hung in thick strands that covered her shoulders like foam. Mara, one of Skinner's Avowed mages.

  A smile quirked up her full lips. ‘So, now that you are rested we can have a conversation, can we not, little rabbit? Such as who you truly work for, yes?’

  Kyle was too weak to care; he hadn't eaten in three days. ‘Work for? What in Father Sky do you mean?’

  ‘I mean that you have eluded the combined efforts of over twelve mages to locate you and we are now very intrigued – who could possibly be so potent? What power has taken enough of an interest in the Guard to plant a spy among us, hmm? Tell me now, little rabbit, for you surely will later. Who do you work for?’

  Kyle gaped up at the woman. ‘Spy? I'm no spy.’

  Frowning, Mara drew her hands from the folds of her robes. ‘Very well. I find interrogations distasteful, but you leave me no choice. I—’

  She broke off, turning to where a crash of undergrowth preceded the arrival of a man who leant against a tree, gasping in air, his leather vest dark with sweat, twigs in his wild grizzled hair. One of the two fellows always hanging out with Stalker, Badlands. ‘Damn,’ he breathed, ‘but you can run, lad.’

  Mara lowered her hands. ‘You were supposed to have tracked him down by now.’

  Hands on his knees he bared his teeth. ‘Guess I'm gettin’ old.’

  ‘Where is—’

  ‘Here.’

  Both Mara and Kyle flinched, surprised to see Stalker crouched opposite from where Badlands had crashed in with so much noise.

  ‘And here.’

  Mara turned; the other fellow, Coots, now leaned against a tree behind her. Her mouth tightened. She adjusted the robes at her shoulder. ‘Better late then never, I imagine. Perhaps now we could return him alive for questioning.’

  ‘Questions regarding what?’ Stalker asked, straightening.

  ‘What power has extended his – or her – protection over him. Who is spying upon us.’

  ‘Not questions ‘bout why he killed Stoop?’

  ‘I did not—’ Kyle began but Badlands motioned for his silence.

  The Avowed mage paused, the tip of her tongue emerged to touch her upper lip. She turned in place, eyeing the three men surrounding her. ‘Of course … that as well … is of great concern to us …’

  Coots and Badlands leapt, drawing knives in the air. Mara gestured, yelling, to disappear into darkness as the men landed in a tangle where she'd stood. They helped each other to their feet.

  ‘Suspicious bitch,’ Stalker spat into the long silence that followed the echoes of the Warren closing.

  Kyle gaped anew from man to man. What in the name of all these foreign Gods was going on?

  ‘They'll be back,’ said Coots.

  ‘In force,’ from Badlands.

  ‘No more questions neither,’ finished Stalker.

  Badlands and Coots nodded and took off running into the forest. Stalker pulled Kyle to his feet. ‘Let's go.’

  ‘Wait! What's—’

  The scout yanked Kyle onward. ‘Move.’

  Kyle wrenched his arm free. ‘What's going on, damn you!’

  Stalker grimaced his irritation. ‘They'll be comin’ back, Kyle. Maybe Cowl himself. We have to move, now.’

  ‘While we go then.’

  A curt nod and the scout headed out, following Badlands and Coots. ‘I didn't kill Stoop,’ Kyle began, pushing aside branches and jumping fallen trunks.

  ‘That's their story,’ answered Stalker. ‘You killed him ‘n’ ran.’

  ‘Who'd believe that?’

  A shrug from the scout as he trotted along. ‘Don't matter. That renegade, Greymane, he doesn't seem convinced. But it's official. What can they do?’

  ‘What about you three? Why attack Mara? What's it to you?’

  The tall scout held up a hand for a halt, crouched behind cover, peering behind them. Kyle joined him. They listened, trying to dampen their breathing. After a moment Stalker straightened. He yanked the pin from the breast of his leathers: the silver dragon sigil of the Crimson Guard. He tossed it aside. ‘Me ‘n’ the boys, we never really were cut out for this mercenary business. We don't think much of fighting for money or power. We fight for other things.’

  Kyle realized that he still wore his sigil. Somehow, he could not bring himself to throw it away. ‘So what now?’

  Stalker shrugged. ‘Get the Abyss away from here. Clear some land.’ He offered a one-sided smile. ‘Raise chickens. C'mon, my brothers won't wait for ever.’

  ‘Brothers?’

  ‘Brothers, cousins, call it what you will. We're all descended from one big family. The Lost. That's us. Welcome to the family.’ The scout cuffed Kyle on his back and jogged off.

  Lost. Well, that's just great. Wonderful! Not only was he a renegade, disbanded and hunted. He was now lost too, by adoption. Shaking his head at the strange rightness of it all he set off as well, hurrying to catch up. Before them stretched league after league of boreal forest. The western reach of the Stratem subcontinent.

  CHAPTER V

  Past Quon hegemonies never held;

  occupations cannot quell unrest,

  indeed, even benign ones foster it.

  Must this lesson be learned every generation?

  Sadly, some things never do change.

  Historian Heboric

  BEFORE THE SERVANT COULD ANNOUNCE HIM, HIGH FIST KORBOLO Dom, Sword of the Empire, stormed into Mallick's residence, throwing down his gloves and travelling cloak. ‘It's happened again! Another of the damned coward nobles has fled the capital, taken his guard with him – over four hundred horse!�
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  Silence answered his pronouncement. ‘Mallick!’ he roared. ‘Damn you! Don't tell me you've run off too!’

  ‘Baron Nira's concern for his lands and crops is well known to me,’ came Mallick's disembodied voice from further within. Korbolo followed the voice to find the man soaking in the broad shallow pool at the centre of his quarters, a towel over his shoulders. Mallick raised a goblet. ‘Wine?’

  Biting back his rage, Korbolo fought the urge to slap the glass from the man's hand. Damn him! Was he insane? Things are slipping beyond their control and he's bathing! Sensing another presence he glanced aside to see the withered old manservant Mallick had brought with him from Seven Cities, Oryan. He dismissed the man from his thoughts. ‘While you splash in your pool the Assembly is dissolving. Representatives are fleeing! Even those you put on it! Soon there will be nothing left to rule, Hood take it, even if we could.’