Perklet glanced around, his face puzzled.
“Where’s Wein?” he asked.
- 2 -
Wein glanced suspiciously at the dwarf standing in front of him.
“You’re a messenger from Lord Donnor?” he asked.
“Yes,” the dwarf replied. “If you need proof, I know that the good paladin has been in contact with you,” he tapped his head, “up here, ever since you left Nocka. Will this suffice?”
Wein nodded even as he wondered why Lord Donnor needed a messenger at all.
“Very well. Lord Donnor instructed me to aid you in ridding this world of the cursed paladin and his converts,” the dwarf said. “I have a plan, if you are agreeable.”
Wein remained silent, then gestured that the dwarf should proceed.
“You will return to your companions right away, and tell them whatever you wish about where you’ve been. Perhaps you saw something and went to investigate.”
Wein nodded, not realizing he was receiving mental commands to say just that.
“Whatever your excuse, you must get them to split up, and try to get alone with the Gray paladin, or else with as few others as possible,” the dwarf continued. “Lord Donnor will contact you and give you directions, and you will lead the Gray one and any others with you into an ambush. Make sure you are in the rear of the group, else you may find yourself caught up as well.”
Wein stared intently at the dwarf.
“Will I be able to join in the fight?” he asked. “I want to slay the accursed one myself.”
The dwarf nodded and smiled in satisfaction.
“Yes, of course, O Holy Warrior,” the dwarf said, almost purring. “By all means, you shall be the one to strike down the cursed spawn of Hell.”
Wein smiled feverishly in anticipation.
- 3 -
Trebor waved at Danner as he walked into the barracks. Danner was too tired to do more than nod in reply. Danner’s arms and legs burned like never before, and he was surprised he could still move. After two trainees had left their bowkurs behind when the group was dismissed for a water break, Morningham had forced the entire training group to do squats against the wall of the courtyard. Not content with regular squats, though, Morningham had them all hold their bowkurs at arm’s length or above their heads.
After a while, he counted down slowly from thirty, and if anyone fell out before he reached zero, he would get them back to a squat and start again at thirty. It was several minutes before Morningham was able to finish his countdown without anyone falling out. Hence, the fiery state of Danner’s arms and legs.
“You look like Hell, Danner,” Marc said as he approached. Danner was the last of their group to show up, since he’d had to stop by the infirmary to be checked for exhaustion or any physical damage from the day’s torture.
“Yeah, well I probably feel twice as bad as I look,” he replied, collapsing on his bunk. Trebor leaned over and laid his hands on Danner as he closed his eyes and spoke softly beneath his breath. Immediately a cold, soothing wave swept across Danner’s body. When Trebor removed his hands, Danner was still sore, but he was no longer groaning in pain.
“Something’s come up we need to plan for,” Trebor said. “I caught a stray thought from one of the Red paladins, and we’ve got another training exercise in the mountains. We leave tomorrow morning before dawn.”
Danner looked up wearily. “Already?”
“‘Fraid so,” Flasch said with false cheerfulness.
“So we’ll prep everything up tonight, then pretend we’re scrambling around like mad tomorrow,” Danner said wearily. “That’s nothing too bad.”
“That’s not all, Danner,” Trebor said quietly. “I also picked up two other things today. One was from a member of the Prismatic Council. He was thinking about some sort of major expedition that’s going to be coming up soon. From what I gathered it’s going to happen while we’re away in the mountains, and it’s going to involve most of the paladins here in Nocka.”
Danner perked up at this. He propped himself up on an elbow and stared at Trebor.
“At the rate paladins have been showing up, there’s got to be more than half of the Order living in this city,” Danner said, frowning. “What the Hell could they be…”
He stopped, a look of awed suspicion on his face.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” he asked.
“Yeah, pretty much,” Trebor said, “and so is Garnet, for that matter.”
“What?” Michael asked, glancing from face to face.
“Well, with all the paladins we’ve seen and heard about, and with the supplies they’ve been stockpiling, that confirms Trebor’s kythe about a major expedition. Since the Prism doesn’t involve itself in political matters or wars between men, there’s only one group that the paladins would be pitting themselves against, especially in such force,” Garnet said slowly. “Demons. But there’s no concentration this side of the Merging that could possibly require so many paladins, so that leaves only one logical conclusion.”
“They’re going to take the offensive,” Danner said, his voice subdued. “They’re taking half the damn paladins across the Merging to assault Hell itself.”
Chapter 31
Objectivity is the tool of historians and scholars. It is useless, however, to those who lived through the events in question and actually experienced part of the truth.
- Vander Wayland,
from a lecture in Nocka (998 AM)
- 1 -
When Wein returned to the others, he told them he’d seen something hurrying away and that he’d gone to investigate. Eventually he’d lost whatever it had been he was trailing, and so he’d retraced his steps. For his part, Birch was suspicious, but he let it pass.
“We’re going to split into three groups for now and start searching the rest of the fortress,” Garet explained. “I want Birch leading one party, James leading another, and I’ll lead the third.”
“I’ll go with Birch,” Wein offered. The others stared at him, surprised. Wein flushed slightly under their stare, his face partially hidden in the shadows. “I think he and I have some things to discuss.”
Garet looked at James, who nodded. He glanced at Birch, who also nodded, but tilted his head and narrowed his eyes in unspoken warning.
“In that case, let’s make it James and Vander. Nuse, why don’t you go ahead and lead the third group and take Perky with you,” Garet said, correctly interpreting Birch’s concern and adjusting accordingly. “I’ll go along with you and Birch, Wein, and I’ll lead so you two can talk without being distracted.”
Wein opened his mouth to object, then thought better of it and just nodded. They bedded down for the night among the dwarves, who offered to keep watch so the paladins could rest for a few hours. One paladin stayed awake on watch at all times in case of emergency.
They woke late in the morning and conferred briefly before heading out. James expressed concern about their late start, but Garet was anticipating a harrowing day and insisted on as much rest as possible.
“We’ll meet back here in two hours,” Garet told them, “as best you can make the time. James, you and Vander head downstairs and pick a direction. Nuse, you and Perky go whatever way they don’t. Remember every way you go, so we don’t end up searching the same areas every time we go out.
“Birch, Wein and I will start up here. Wein, for now I’ll want you to help lead us,” Garet said. “Lead us back the way you went before, and maybe we’ll find something this time.”
Wein nodded, betraying none of the nervousness he felt. Things were working out very well, almost too well. He hadn’t had to suggest they split up, and no one seemed to object to his trying to be alone with the Gray demon, Birch. Garet’s presence complicated things, but he was certain that Lord Donnor’s contact would have things arranged to take care of the other man.
Wein wrapped his violet cloak around him and waited in silence while the others tightened armor and prepared for
their search.
Deep within Wein, something screamed that what he was doing was wrong, but he ignored it. The Gray one was a demon, or at the very least cursed by some sort of treachery, and Wein meant to see that he was stopped. It was tragic that the others had fallen so easily under his sway and had been corrupted, but that, too, would be dealt with. Perhaps had he been allowed to help them sooner, Wein might have prevented their corruption, or at least slowed it so they were still redeemable when the Gray one was removed. But it was as he’d told Lord Donnor in their last communication, they were too far to be reached and rescued from the influence of evil.
Finally it was time to leave.
“Let’s go,” Garet said.
Wein led the other two men out into the hallway, whispered a half-hearted gesture of luck and faith to the other four, then started down the passage in the other direction. When he came to the first intersection, he hesitated a moment, then almost sighed in relief when he heard Lord Donnor’s voice in his head.
“Go straight until you reach a set of stairs, then climb up.”
“This way,” Wein said aloud.
- 2 -
Danner awoke the next morning to a sick feeling deep in his stomach. He didn’t know if it was leftover from the revelation last night or if something new was disturbing him. A large group of paladins burst into the trainees’ barracks and ordered them to wake up and gather their gear.
To make things more fair to the other trainees, and at Danner’s insistence, Trebor and the others had quietly spread the word that they’d overheard one of their instructors mentioning another excursion into the mountains. Some of the trainees had taken the warning under advisement and acted on it, packing their gear that night just in case, while others had ignored it. Those who hadn’t listened were now regretting their choice as they were forced to frantically stuff their gear into backpacks and load up their war belts.
Danner and his friends made a pretense of stuffing their gear like everyone else, but they were still among the first to be standing in place and ready when their instructors came striding down the line. Danner risked a quick glance up the room and saw several paladins who didn’t normally come to training sessions. Among them was Lord Rathamik Donnor, the Yellow paladin who headed the Prismatic Council. There were two other Council members present, which surprised Danner. While the Council was obviously concerned with how the trainees were progressing, this was the first time he’d seen any of them take more than a passing interest in what happened to them.
“You sissy nannies are in for a real treat today,” Morningham said loudly, causing Danner to snap his eyes back to the front. Morningham looked down the line and saw two trainees still fussing with their gear, trying to escape notice.
“Eyes!” he yelled.
“Snap!” the trainees all yelled, and turned their heads toward Morningham.
“Ears!”
“Open!”
“Now then, we normally don’t have another training expedition this soon, but we’ve decided to go ahead and fast forward your training a bit,” Morningham said brusquely. “You’ve still got to be one of the lousiest groups of trainees it’s ever been my God-given curse to deal with, but the powers that be have decided that we’ve been coddling you too much. So I figure if we make you learn more, faster, we can cut off the roses and have nothing but thorns left to make my garden. That being said, get your sorry, soft hides down to the courtyard and into the wagons.
“Now move! Move! Move!”
Other paladins took up the cry and rushed the trainees from the room. Danner’s stomach clenched violently as he passed by the last group of paladins, where the Prismatic Council members were standing. He nearly stumbled at the sudden nausea, but Michael held him up and helped him out of the barracks. Behind him, he felt a wave of overwhelming hatred pulsing from the room.
“You all right?” Michael whispered.
“No.”
The sky was gray in the pre-dawn light as they hurried to the waiting carts.
To Trebor, Danner said with his mind, “Trebor, I think I might have just found our culprit. Tell the others to be careful, and I’ll fill you in as we go.”
- 3 -
The flight into the mountains took about as long as their previous flights there and back, and they rode the same wagons, but this time they weren’t blindfolded on their way out. Pretending to admire the view, Danner told Trebor, who relayed it to the rest, about the feeling he’d felt while passing the Council members.
“It’s got to be one of them,” Danner said mentally. Based on what he told them, the others agreed.
“I’ve been able to find two of the Council members on other wagons,” Trebor kythed to Danner, “but I can’t locate Lord Donnor. There’s a strange emptiness three wagons down, though, so maybe that’s him. If it is a demon, and he’s taken one of their shapes, maybe that’s what it is. I don’t know that I’d be able to read a demon’s mind, even if I wanted to.”
Danner nodded slightly.
Trebor hesitated, then decided not to tell Danner that the emptiness felt almost exactly like the mental block Trebor sometimes experienced when trying to kythe Danner, just much, much stronger, and tinged with a sort of yellow aura. It was an inexact description, simply because there was really no color for Trebor to see, just like he didn’t actually hear the sound of people’s voices when he read their minds. It was just how his mind interpreted it.
“Well, tell the others to keep their eyes open, and to check in periodically, especially if they find or feel anything strange,” Danner told him. “We’ll do our best to stay together, as always.”
Then they were on the ground and following orders to begin making the camp. Danner, Marc, and Garnet had to help dig the pits for the latrines. Trebor and Michael were sent to gather firewood, and Flasch was ordered to go hunting for small game. Every half-hour or so, Flasch checked in with Trebor, who then reported the “all’s well” to the others.
The morning passed uneventfully. Distant storm clouds drifted steadily closer, promising rain that evening or the next day. They were all fed, then given new duties. Trebor and Garnet started cleaning and preparing food for the afternoon meal, Marc and Michael went back to work on another set of latrine pits, and Danner and Flasch were sent out as a scouting party. They were directed to go up the mountain and scout some of the more dangerous paths. They wore the practice cloaks they’d been using for the past several days and carried only their bowkurs as weapons.
“Why do we always get picked for this kind of thing?” Flasch complained.
“Well, I would hazard a guess it’s because we’re lithe, nimble, and are more sure-footed than any of the other trainees,” Danner said blandly, “but it’s more likely because God has something personal against you.”
“Don’t joke about that, Danner,” Flasch said, his voice sounding almost serious. “I always try to stay on God’s good side, and I figure that’s the reason I’ve lived so long, given some of my stupider attempts at making money. I like to think that a strong faith has kept me alive, and I figure I’m going to spend the rest of my life thanking Him for some of His more generous interventions.”
“What’s with the seriousness all of a sudden? Don’t tell me you’re going to go Violet,” Danner said, poking Flasch in the ribs. It was a rare thing for Flasch to speak so plainly and seriously, and it actually made Danner a little uncomfortable.
“I don’t think we have that much choice about it, really, but you never know,” Flasch said. “Stranger things have happened, I suppose.”
“Well, yeah, like a dwarf marrying a gnome, maybe.”
Flasch gave Danner a good-natured shove, and he stumbled on the rocks of a narrow path. He glanced back at Flasch, but his retaliatory comment died silently on his lips.
A hundred yards behind them, blocking the only other way they could go, was a yellow-striped faerer. Danner studied it a moment, but the sudden wave of loathing that swept over him confirmed his suspi
cion. It was the same demon-faerer he’d seen before, and now he was convinced it was one of The Three. Whatever uncertainty had marked their previous encounter and saved Danner’s life no longer seemed to be present, and all he could sense from the demon was pure, unadulterated hatred. The sheer malevolence emanating from the immortal nearly knocked Danner back on his heels.
“Flasch, come this way, quickly,” Danner said. “Our demon friend is back.”
“Danner, I don’t know about you, but I really don’t consider any demon to be my friend,” Flasch said nervously, but he practically ran the three steps to catch up with Danner. He glanced back and saw the faerer.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. I’ll keep an eye on him, so please contact Trebor and see if he or any of the others can get up here and help,” Danner said. “For all the bluster I used last time, I don’t think we have a snowball’s chance in Hell of beating this bastard. We need help.”
“You don’t say?”
Down the path, the faerer took a slow step forward, then another. The demon-faerer locked eyes with Danner, and he knew for a certainty that this time it was no longer just following them, and there would be no bluff to save their lives. They were being hunted, and if they were caught, they would die.
- 4 -
“This way,” Wein said, pointing. They were up the stairs and had walked down a short hallway, and now Wein was leading them across the battlements of an external causeway to the room beyond. “This is where I lost him, or it.”
Privately, Birch was wondering how Wein had had time to get this far and come back so quickly. He was willing to believe his fellow paladin, despite their differences and whatever Wein’s strange obsession, but at the moment, Birch was suspicious that Wein had something else in mind other than following a mysterious shadow he’d seen.
Garet glanced at him, and Birch knew the Red was having similar doubts.
Wein stopped outside the far door and leaned down to adjust the ties on his boot.
“Go ahead, I’ll be right in,” Wein said, waving them forward. Birch glanced at him and saw sweat drenching the underarms of his leather armor. On instinct, Birch drew his sword and heard Garet do the same behind him. Selti swooped down from where he’d been circling above them and settled on the stones beside Birch. To his left, the wall of the fortress fell away in a sheer drop for several hundred feet. Off in the distance, Birch saw their ship bobbing slowly in the harbor. He hoped everything was all right with their two companions and the ship’s crew, and Birch wondered how the boat full of dwarves would take the news of their king’s death.
Hunting The Three (The Barrier War) Page 38