by Troy Denning
This mercy only served to convince the patrol that he intended to enslave them all in Ysdar's hell. Those who had already lost tresses to him grew desperate and attacked rashly, while those who had lost no hair grew more cautious than ever. Atreus stopped cutting off their locks, though he took pains to make it appear he was still trying.
There were only a dozen riders left when Naraka finally anticipated an ambush and laid a trap of his own. The trio was rushing across a hummock toward the sound of splashing when Naraka and eight men took them from the side. Yago, ten paces in the lead, was quickly separated from Atreus and Rishi.
Rishi managed to fling a dagger into Naraka's arm. The patrol leader responded in kind, catching Atreus just under the collarbone with a hurled lance. Atreus took the blow without falling, then yanked the weapon out and slammed its shaft across Naraka's throat. The patrol leader tumbled from his saddle, and the battle became a blur.
On the other side of the hummock, Yago was being driven toward the water, wielding a lance with his wounded arm and holding a screaming man in the other. One of Rishi's daggers flashed past and took a pony behind the jaw, dropping beast and rider in a cacophony of screeching and crashing. Another pony leaped its fallen fellow and landed only paces away.
Atreus hurled himself at its feet and came up holding his sword. He blocked a lance, slamming his blade into the rider's flank and felt warm blood spatter his face. He stepped away and found three men advancing on him cautiously, their lances low and ready. Yago was nowhere in sight, but there was a lot of splashing on the far side of the hummock.
"Yago!" Atreus yelled. "Come back!"
"Can't!" came the reply. "Got myself walled off!"
Atreus cursed, and the three riders kicked their ponies, urging them into a charge.
"Yago, break off!" Atreus yelled. "Run!"
Atreus turned and hurled himself out of the ponies path, rolled, and came up sprinting. He saw Rishi already at the yaks, just climbing onto the lead beast's back.
"Rishi! If you leave me, I swear you'll wish-"
"Leave you?" Rishi called, as though the thought had not even occurred to him. "I would never do that!"
The little Mar spun, already flinging one of his daggers. Atreus ducked, then heard a pained cry behind him.
"You see, I am very faithful!"
Rishi raised another knife, but did not throw it, his eyes darting back and forth between the riders behind Atreus. Having witnessed the Mar's accuracy many times, neither man felt like risking an attack, and Atreus raced the last few steps to his mount in relative safety. He jumped on his yak, slapped its neck with the flat of his blade, and they were quickly splashing through the water at a trot.
When Atreus heard no sign of pursuers, he paused to look back. Naraka's man were scurrying over the hummock, tending to their wounded and struggling to calm their panicked mounts. Atreus saw no sign of Yago, but neither did he hear any hint that the battle was continuing on the far side of the hummock.
"Did you see what happened to Yago?" Atreus asked. "Did he get away?"
Rishi furrowed his brow. "I saw no more than you, but did you not hear him?"
Atreus shook his head. "Things were too confused," he said.
"Yago told us to go," Rishi said, glancing up the channel. "I suggest we obey, before they recover their wits and realize what an advantage they have."
Atreus narrowed his eyes, far from certain that he believed the sly Mar. "What were his words, exactly?"
Rishi frowned. "I cannot be sure I heard him right. It sounded like, "Both eyes, front and back!"
Atreus sighed in relief. "Okay, let's go."
"You are not worried about your friend?" Despite his question, Rishi wasted no time starting up the channel.
" 'Both eyes' is an old ogre saying. It means he's whole," Atreus explained as he scooped a shard of broken ice out of the water and pressed it to his wound to stop the bleeding. "And I think 'front and back' means he's going to follow the patrol. If there's trouble again, he'll attack from behind."
Rishi nodded. "Very sensible, but what happens when Naraka turns around?"
"That's not going to happen. Not now," Atreus replied, glancing back. Naraka's patrol was already lost in the willows. "Not until one of us is dead."
"You see?" asked Rishi. "Is that not what I told you back in Bharat's wagon?"
The Mar looked forward again, leaving Atreus to tend to his wound. His shoulder felt stiff and throbbing, but there were no broken bones, and he could still move his arm. As these things went, he had been lucky. Though he felt terribly weak and would certainly suffer a fever later, he could keep traveling.
Of more immediate concern was his guide's loyalty. "Rishi, you do know what will happen if you try to open that coffer without me?"
Rishi twisted around. "Why would I ever try such a thing?" he asked. "Until we reach Langdarma, the gold is not even mine."
"I'm glad to hear you have not forgotten," Atreus said. "You were in an awful hurry to leave back there."
"Not at all! No, never!" said Rishi. "It was only that some-one had to untether the yaks if we were to make a swift escape, and you were doing so well. Did I not come to your aid when you called?"
Though Atreus was not entirely sure the Mar's knife had been meant for the man behind him, he reluctantly nodded. "You may have saved my life. Allow me to repay you by mentioning that there are many traps on my coffer, the least of which is the one that blinded Bharat."
Rishi's eyes grew unreadable. "It is very considerate of you to mention this, but it hardly matters to me."
"Of course," said Atreus.
"The gold will be mine soon enough," Rishi added. "Now that Naraka is wounded, the patrol will certainly leave us to continue our journey in peace."
"Certainly."
But Naraka did not turn back. Within minutes they heard the patrol splashing through the water behind them, though somewhat more slowly than before. As the sun neared its zenith, the ice finally vanished from the channels. Rishi doubled back, guiding them down a tunnel-like passage so shallow that at times they were passing over new growth, then struck off in a new direction.
The splashing of the patrol grew abruptly distant, and Atreus began to worry about finding Yago again. The swamp was turning out to be vastly larger than it looked from the other side of the gorge. If they were lucky enough to lose Naraka, it seemed all too possible that they would also lose Yago.
The pony began to nicker and snort more often, lamenting the growing separation from its mates. Atreus cut the beast loose. There was every chance the poor creature would lose its way and freeze to death that night, but he could not afford to be compassionate. After the wounds the two sides had inflicted on each other during the last ambush, the chase had taken on a new intensity, and Atreus knew the next fight would be to the death.
They continued deeper into the swamp. The high willows blocked their view of the mighty peaks to the east, but every now and then the view opened up as they passed an intersecting channel or an expanse of open water. It did not escape Atreus's notice that in these places Rishi stopped to study the sky-scraping mountains for ever-increasing periods of time.
High sun came and went, and still they saw no sign of the road. If anything, the swamp seemed to close in around them. Sightings of the mountains became less frequent, and when they did occur, Rishi frowned and sometimes muttered to himself. They began to hear Naraka's patrol shouting in the distance. The hummocks grew uncommon, and the willows thickened to the point that the two fugitives had to plow through, leaving a furrow of broken and bent stalks in their wake.
The sun lost its warmth and sank lower in the sky, and the same icy breeze Atreus had felt the evening before started to rise. His wound began to throb and burn, while the rest of him grew so cold he started to shiver. His feet ached with a wet chill, and no amount of swinging seemed to warm them. Though the pain was safer, he longed for yesterday's numbness.
A tiny shout went up in the dis
tance behind them. It was quickly answered by several others, and the flurry of voices that followed left no doubt that one of Naraka's men had stumbled across their trail. Atreus tried to console himself with the thought that Yago would not be far behind.
Rishi stopped his yak and stood, balancing himself precariously on its shoulder hump. He did not look back in the direction of the shouts, but eastward toward the hidden mountains.
"What a relief!" Despite his words, he did not sound relieved. "We are certainly almost there."
"Certainly?" Atreus scoffed. "You have no idea where we are, do you?"
"The good sir may certain-ah-he may have every faith in his guide," said Rishi. "The road is very near. I have seen it."
Scowling, Atreus swung his numb feet up, then stood wobbling on the yak's back and looked toward the massive mountains in the distance. He saw nothing ahead but a ribbon of open water.
"There's no road out there!" he snapped. "There isn't even a dry place to spend the night."
Before Rishi could reply, a distant voice cried out behind them. Atreus looked back to see a tiny pony rider in the bend of a channel, pointing a lance in his direction. The man turned his mount toward Atreus and disappeared into the willows, and a moment later the whole thicket began to quiver.
Atreus cursed, then squatted down and swung his legs over the yak's side. "The man is a bloodhound," he said. "Naraka and his patrol are about half a mile behind. They saw me."
"No matter. We can easily lose them again." Rishi turned his yak toward the ribbon of open water.
They had no choice except to plow straight through the willows, leaving an easy trail to follow. This did not concern Atreus nearly as much as the apparent impossibility of finding a dry place to spend the night. Though he and Rishi had more or less dried out after their morning ambushes, they were both hungry and far from warm. After the sun went down, the bitter cold would be a steady drain on their strength-strength that in Atreus's case was already being tested by a throbbing wound.
Soon, the yak's feet began to plunge deeper into the water. Small, arrow-shaped ripples appeared at the base of the willow stalks, and it grew clear they were approaching a river. Rishi continued to plow forward until the water rose above the yak's knees. Finally, he turned upstream, ducking in and out of a network of narrow passages that ran parallel to the main channel. Every now and then they crossed a broader clearing that opened into the river itself, framing a picture-like panorama of water, willows, and sky-scraping peaks.
Naraka's patrol made good use of the passages and the now obvious bearing of their quarry. It was not long before Atreus began to hear the occasional shouted order.
Even with Yago behind the patrol, Atreus did not want to risk a battle this close to dark. Without a dry place to start a fire, the winners would escape death for only as long as it took to freeze.
"We're going to have to cross," Atreus said.
Rishi shook his head. "The river is very deep."
"Yaks can't swim?"
"Of course they can," Rishi replied. "And we will be soaked, with no place to camp."
"We can't camp on this side either."
Rishi shrugged and said, "Who can say, but at least we will not be wet."
They continued along the shore, and the sky grew steadily grayer. Naraka's patrol closed the distance, until their voices became a steady murmur creeping up from behind. Atreus began to roll his shoulder and gently swing his arm back and forth, preparing his wound for a battle that now seemed inevitable.
The willows were just beginning to stripe the water with late afternoon shadows when more murmuring voices sounded ahead. Atreus's first fear was that some of Naraka's men had circled around to cut them off, but then he also noticed a faint, sporadic clanking. Rishi cursed quietly in Maran and peered back toward Naraka's patrol.
"What's wrong?" Even as he asked the question, Atreus fathomed the source of the clanking. "Have we reached the road?"
"Some time ago," Rishi whispered. "And now we must leave it."
"What?" Atreus peered through the willows and saw nothing but river. "Do you mean-"
"The good sir understands very well. And soon, so will Naraka." Rishi started to turn away from the river. "We must lead him away from the river before he sees the boats."
"Boats!" Atreus nearly shouted the word, and the willows fell silent as Naraka's patrol stopped to listen. "We have no boats. How are we to use a river with no-"
"Ssssh!" Rishi held his finger to his lips, then hissed, "The Swamp Way is like any road. There are inns spread along its course, and at those inns boats can often be purchased."
Atreus listened a moment, then groaned. The clanking and voices upstream were growing louder.
"We're going the wrong direction."
Rishi scowled and glanced nervously upstream and down. "Certainly the good sir has sound reason for claiming to know more than his guide?" he said. "Perhaps he has been in this swamp before, or perhaps he has a divine map from his goddess such as the one that shows him how to reach the fabled valley, but not the mountains where it lies?"
"The boat is coming downstream," Atreus replied, "so, unless these river-men make a habit of running in the dark, the nearest inn is not far behind us… on the other side of Naraka."
Rishi's face fell, and Naraka's voice began shouting orders. It did not sound nearly distant enough to please Atreus.
"He's found our trail." Atreus turned his yak toward the river and urged it forward. "Maybe we can catch a ride."
"No! Wait!" Rishi cried. "What about Yago? Surely you do not mean to leave him alone with Naraka?"
"Yago is behind Naraka," Atreus said, continuing toward the river. "That means he's downstream. We'll pick him up on the way past."
Ponies began to splash through the water, moving fast and coming straight toward them. The murmur on the boats was almost as loud as that of Naraka's patrol, the clanking so sharp that Atreus could distinctly identify it as chains.
"You do not understand!" Rishi cried, riding after Atreus. "We must go to the inn. These boats are not for sale!"
"Anything is for sale if you have enough gold," Atreus insisted, pointing to the rucksack hanging from Rishi's yak. "And we have enough gold."
Atreus emerged from the willows and found himself staring upstream at a sharp bend in the river. As he watched, a long wooden dugout floated around the corner, guided by a single man in the rear. In front of the pilot stood several burly guards, looming over a dozen people-men, women, and children-chained to the bottom of the boat.
"Slaves?" Atreus gasped. He turned to Rishi, too stunned to be outraged. "I'm following a slaver?"
CHAPTER 7
A second boat floated around the bend, also holding a dozen slaves The captives sat three abreast, with a single chain running through their wrist manacles from one side of the boat to the other. They had the dark hair and golden skin of the Mar, but their faces were rounder and their eyes narrower. Their cheeks and black eyes were bulging, most had a crust of dried blood beneath their nostrils, lips so swollen they could barely close their mouths. Their clothes were filthy, ripped, and too flimsy for a journey through the cold swamp. Most were shivering. All were staring into the water with hopeless, unseeing eyes.
At the rear of the boat stood a pair of guards, larger and of lighter complexion than their captives. They dressed in warm furs and held furled whips in their hands. At their sides hung long padded clubs, no doubt used to beat slaves senseless without damaging their market value. The two men were frowning and looking past Atreus and Rishi into the willows, where Naraka's patrol was rustling toward shore.
A wave of revulsion rose in Atreus. The thought of buying help from slavers sickened him, but their boats seemed his only hope of survival. Whether or not he defeated Naraka, he would need plenty of warm food and a dry place to sleep if he wanted to see the dawn.
"Perhaps now the good sir sees why we may not ask for a ride," said Rishi. "It is death to anyone who reveals the
Swamp Road to the Queen's Men. We must lead the patrol away and circle back to the inn, or the river-men will kill us as surely as our pursuers."
Rishi turned away from the shore, suddenly crying out and pressing himself flat to his mount's back. A pair of wooden lances flew out of the willows, one striking the gold-filled rucksack on his yak and the other sailing over his head into the river.
A grunt sounded downstream from Atreus. He ducked, then heard a lance hiss past and splash into the water. He twisted toward his unseen attacker, automatically bringing his sword around in an inverted guard, and deflected a second lance corning at his ribs. He urged his mount deeper into the willows, not because he cared whether Naraka's men saw the slave boats, but because it was death to be trapped against the river.
He was too late. There were two riders lurking in the willows ahead. On the other side of Rishi, another pair-these still armed with lances-were easing through the thicket upstream. Naraka and four more men were coming from downstream, ready to sweep in from behind the instant Atreus and Rishi engaged either pair of riders.
"Yago!" Atreus called. "Need help! Where are you?"
Yago did not answer, and Atreus's heart fell. He could only guess at Naraka's casualties in their last clash, but it seemed to him the patrol should have been larger by three or four riders. Whether Naraka had lost those men slaying Yago or simply left them behind to delay the ogre Atreus had no way to know. But had Yago been in earshot, he would have answered.
A cold fury rose inside Atreus, and he turned his yak downstream toward Naraka. Whatever had happened to Yago, the patrol leader's prejudice was to blame-the patrol leader's and that of his queen.
"This way, Rishi!"
Hoping to make good use of the yak's size, Atreus eased his mount into deeper water. Ten paces ahead, Naraka and his group mirrored the movement, two men holding lances and two holding swords.
Rishi came up from the rear, stationing himself a pace back and just inshore of Atreus. Behind them, the other four riders began to splash through the water, slowly tightening the noose.