The Demon's Blade

by Steven Drake

  Chapter 13: The Underpass

  The night at the Monkey’s Eyebrow Inn dragged by slowly for Darien as he pondered the turn of events. He thought of asking the bartender if he’d heard anything about Mandala Fortress, but decided against it. Asking odd questions leaves a firmer impression on memories, and passing through the city unnoticed was far more important than simple curiosity. The calculating strategist now knew he could not take that path, and nothing else was relevant.

  He returned to his room, and spent the remainder of the night dozing in the rocking chair. When the clock in the main room chimed six bells, the Executioner decided it was time to waken his sleeping companion.

  "Jerris," he spoke, attempting to wake the still sleeping youth. "Jerris, wake up." The lad stirred and rolled over in his bed, but did not awaken. "Jerris!" He spoke louder, but still to no avail. Finally, he threw a cup of water on the sleeper, who suddenly bolted upright in bed.

  "What, what happened?"

  "It's time to get moving," Darien said in a commanding voice as he glared down into the young man’s blinking eyes.

  "Did you throw water on me?"

  "Yes, I did. I couldn't get you to wake up. Next time wake when I ask and I won't have to do that."

  "Wake when you ask? How am I supposed to do that?"

  "You must learn to sleep lighter, and be alert for danger," the somber Executioner said flatly. "If I couldn't wake you, an enemy could slit your wrists in your sleep and you'd bleed to death before you noticed."

  "Are you serious? How am I supposed to learn to sleep lighter, or be alert when I'm sleeping?" Jerris seemed even more confused than before.

  "Well, the Shades learned by attacking one another in our sleep. We weren’t allowed to actually kill each other of course, because that wouldn’t have taught anyone anything. Instead the goal was to inflict as much pain as possible. The apprentices learned quickly to sense a threat even in their sleep. Pain can be an effective teacher. Though I am using water instead of steel and magic, I hope to achieve similar effect."

  "Thanks for just using water, I guess," Jerris said with a sarcastic smirk. “What did you decide?”

  "We’ll take the underpass. The other path is closed to us now."

  “What? You said yesterday that was more dangerous, and what do you mean the other path is closed?”

  “I went back out to the bar while you slept, and overheard a conversation. Mandala Fortress is on alert, and they’ve closed all the gates. They won’t open them again for months, until whatever threat has passed, most likely not before spring at any rate. Now let’s get going. We've wasted enough time as it is."

  Jerris got his things together and they headed out into the city. Darien bought his usual traveling fare, dried meats, hard cheeses, flatbread, and hardtack. He caught his young companion grimacing more than once during his shopping. No doubt the lad had never traveled so far from home before, and was unaccustomed to the hearty but unappealing foods used by travelers. He chuckled to himself. His charge’s youth and inexperience continued to be a source of amusement.

  The journey to Galad would take about a week and a half with horses. Even on the road, the rugged terrain would nearly double that time on foot. There's just no way round it, Darien thought. It will cost most of the coin I have left, but without horses, Avirosa is likely to catch us in the Craglands no matter how hard we push ourselves.

  His mind made up, he went to the nearest stables in the lower city. A fat, brown-bearded, middle-aged dwarf stood amongst several decent looking animals. No doubt these were the best he had to offer, and there were more in back which might be less expensive. "What are we looking for here?" Jerris asked. "I can carry my share of the supplies. We don't need a pack animal."

  "No Jerris, we don't," Darien explained. "But the land we will be traveling through is quite difficult, and we must move fast if we are to stay ahead of our pursuers. We cannot stay ahead of them on foot, so I am looking for two horses, of course."

  "Can you afford that?" Jerris asked in an incredulous tone.

  "Yes, I can," the other calmly countered. "I make it a point to be prepared for situations like this, although I never imagined I would need to buy a second horse, so this will use up almost all my coin. We will have very little to buy supplies further on, so we will be living rough for the remainder of the journey, until and unless I can find a way to make some coin."

  "We should save our money then, I think," Jerris started shifting nervously, while clenching and unclenching his fists. "I don't like the thought of being caught, but I like the thought of starving in the wilderness even less."

  "Starving in the wilderness is likely to be the more pleasant option, honestly," Darien remained blunt as usual, but he immediately noticed Jerris had begun to fidget in his familiar manner, and as the observant mage had discovered, this generally meant he was preoccupied with something. "What is it, now?"

  "It's just that… well, I don't know how to ride a horse." Jerris finally stammered out.

  Darien let out a long sigh as he looked down and rubbed his temples. "Is that all? Well, then you will learn to ride one today." Jerris' expression did not change and his fidgeting continued with the same feverish intensity. Darien frowned and spoke sternly. "If minor difficulties like this are going to bother you, then what do you expect to do when we face real danger? You'd best get accustomed to mastering your fears. If learning to ride a horse is the most frightening experience you have while accompanying me, you’ll have been fortunate beyond measure." Jerris appeared unmoved, now trembling slightly, so Darien paused a moment and scratched his stubbly chin thoughtfully. "I can always leave you here, I suppose. Tobin may be willing to help hide you for a time, and I doubt Duke Parham will even bother to look for you beyond his own borders."

  "No, no," the lad said, drawing on some hidden reserve of resolve. "I'm sorry. You're right. I don't want to be left here. I don't know what I'd do anyway. I have no money and no home. Besides, now that I know the prophecy is real, I have to see this through."

  "Alright then. For what it's worth, I'm sorry you're involved in this at all."

  "Don't be," Jerris said. "I brought you into it as much as you did me. The truth is that I wanted you to help me rescue mother when you first saved me from those thugs. If you hadn't offered, I would have asked anyway. I had already thought of offering the talisman when you showed interest in it. So it would have ended up just the same anyway. I don't regret it, and I'm not sorry I met you. I could do worse for a guardian." Jerris smiled warmly at the man he now called his guardian, and the cold Executioner, unaccustomed to such a show of affection, smiled back as best he could.

  With the matter resolved, Darien went up to the fat dwarf, and asked to be shown around. After the usual amount of haggling, he selected two horses. The first, named Cloud, was a young, and somewhat unruly, gray colt he selected for himself. For the inexperienced rider, he chose the most passive and peaceful looking animal, an old roan colored mare named Terra.

  With the supplies and horses bought, it was time to be off. Darien first helped Jerris up to his horse, and instructed the lad in the basics of horsemanship. Then he got up on his own horse and started forward. Jerris managed to get his horse moving and Terra quickly seemed to follow Cloud without much instruction.

  The two men made their way down to the second level and towards a dim tunnel which broke off from the main path on the right. Just inside the doorway, an iron portcullis barred the way forward. A dwarf guard arrayed in black iron armor emerged from a guardhouse built into the mountain to the right of the gate. "Who goes?" the dwarf asked in a lazy tone.

  "Just two travelers heading towards Galad," Darien replied. "May we pass?" The dwarf held out his hand, and the questioner handed him a single silver coin from a now nearly empty sack.

  "Very well then," the dwarf lazily continued. "May your journey be profitable." Then the dwarf disappeared back into the guardhouse and the iron portcullis rose into the ceiling.

/>   The two riders passed into the dim underpass. The only light was produced by widely spaced magical torches, which illumined as the travelers approached, then faded again once they had passed, more than enough light for the sure footed horses and the elf eyes of their riders. The road led straight onward, with a slight downward slope. Darien kept the horses at a steady walking pace, turning round every so often to check on his companion, who, fortunately, had little difficulty managing the horse. The lights of the city and the guardhouse faded into the distance a bit more each time the older half-elf turned around. After an hour or so, the lights had become nothing more than an orange glow behind them. Darien was about to turn round again, when Jerris unexpectedly appeared beside him.

  "Worried about riding a horse, were you?" he ribbed his companion. Jerris offered no response but a sheepish smile, and Darien turned his eyes back to the road.

  "Well, now that we're off, and there's no one around, I thought it would be a good chance to talk. There are some things I've been meaning to ask you," Jerris said in a serious tone.

  I wonder what ridiculous questions he will ask me today, Darien thought, then he replied. "Well, this is as good a time as any, I suppose. There's not much else to do."

  "First, why are we the only ones on this road?"

  "This pass was built a very long time ago," the more experienced traveler explained. "As I understand it, these lands were once much more prosperous. Several centuries ago, the Demon King managed to unite the goblin hordes of the north. He hoped to bypass the magical barrier on the river Saldean by going north of Mandala Fortress, where the enchantments on the Saldean are created.”

  “He started the Great Goblin War in an effort to take control of the regions of Vorstal, Rostog to the East, and the area now known as the Craglands. He had hoped the dwarf kingdoms would turn upon each other, and even sent spies to sew discontent among them, but the strategy failed completely. The dwarves united in their resistance, and the Order of the Golden Shield guessed the Demon King’s purpose, and sent aid to the north. Faced with the prospect of all-out war with both the dwarves and the Golden Shield, the Master abandoned his goblin allies and they were decimated.”

  “Still, the war ravaged most of the northlands east of Stalag. There were goblins inhabiting the Craglands for a hundred years after the war, and trade moved from the southern route to the northern."

  "Thanks for the history lesson," Jerris rolled his eyes, making no effort to hide his sarcasm. "You could have just said we're the only people who actually want to go through a dark empty tunnel to get to a barren wasteland."

  "You should pay attention," Darien said. "You can learn a lot from history. There are usually reasons that things are as they are, and many of them are buried far in the past. You must learn to examine the world more closely. For now, focus on the present. The underpass is dangerous enough, so be wary."

  After that, Jerris was quiet for a while, yet his companion could tell there was still something on the boy’s mind. It had not escaped Darien's notice that Jerris had been eyeing the Demon Sword on his back ever since Tobin had made his careless comment the day before. I will have to tell him sometime, Darien reasoned, as the sword is dangerous by its very nature. Jerris must be made to understand that if I'm forced to use the sword, he will have to flee, and make his way on his own. I suppose I’ll wait until he summons up the courage to ask himself.

  After a while, Jerris spoke again. "Tobin said that book was written in fae speech, and that a faerie might be able to translate it, right?"

  "Yes, that's right. What about it?"

  "Well, do you think we'll be able to find one, a faerie I mean? I've never seen one or even heard of anyone having seen one. Have you met many?"

  "I can't say that I've ever met a faerie, but then I've never really looked for one either. The Master was never very concerned with them, so shades like myself were never taught much about them."

  "So where would we look for them?"

  "I honestly don't know," the other answered frankly. "I'm sorry, Jerris. I didn't say anything at the time because I didn't want to insult Tobin, but we're nearly as likely to wander into the lost city while looking for a faerie as we are to actually find one to translate this."

  "You mean we're not any closer than we were before?" Jerris hung his head dejectedly. "I thought we had made some real progress."

  "Try not to be discouraged," Darien countered. "Before we spoke to Tobin, we, and you in particular, weren't even sure the prophecy was anything more than a made up story. Now we know that something important is actually written there. We just can't read it. I'd say that is significant progress."

  "Well, yes, I guess you're right. I hadn't thought of it that way."

  "Well, you did actually,"

  "Yesterday, you got quite excited when you first realized the prophecy was real. You even said so."

  "Well, yes, I suppose I did. What's your point?" Jerris’ irritation seemed to be increasing.

  The more experienced half-elf ignored his young companion, pretending he had not said anything. He paused a few seconds, then resumed. "Again, just now, when I told you that we wouldn’t be very likely to find a faerie, you immediately reacted quite strongly. What do you suppose those two things have in common?"

  "I don't know, what?" Jerris grumbled. "I hate riddles."

  "That isn't surprising. Riddles require patience, and a clear mind. If you seize upon the first thought that enters your head and focus exclusively on it, you will never consider all possible meanings of the words. That is the essence of riddle making, and answering."

  "So what, and you didn't answer my question."

  Darien sighed and then spoke. "Stop arguing, be silent, clear your mind, and consider everything that I have said. The answer is right in front of you, but you don't see it because you're so focused on one tiny piece of the puzzle." Jerris opened his mouth to speak again, but Darien scowled sternly to silence the lad. For several minutes, Jerris stewed and fidgeted, letting out an occasional unintelligible grumble. Then, he finally settled down, and rode along quietly. After perhaps an hour had passed, Darien spoke again.

  "Well, now that you've had some time to consider the problem, do you have an answer?"

  "I have a guess," Jerris replied. "You meant that I just react to whatever is right in front of me, or whatever I just heard, and I forget everything else."

  "Good, very good," The other said slowly. "Now you're thinking, but to be more precise, you react to whatever you're feeling, not what you're thinking, and you end up not thinking at all, just reacting to whatever happens, bouncing from one point to the next like a deer being driven by a pack of wolves. It's a habit you'll need to break if you ever hope to be the hunter instead of the prey."

  "Alright, I see your point," Jerris said. "So how do you do it? You seem like you never react to anything at all. Do you feel anything, or have you killed so many people that it's all games and riddles to you?"

  Darien did not react to Jerris’ remark, though he laughed to himself. That insult was actually quite impressive, he thought. It was clever, and it took guile to actually say it to me. Still, it will take more than that to actually get to me.

  "No. It's not all games and riddles," he replied calmly. "Quite the opposite. I consider everything I do and say carefully and thoroughly. I do not react hastily, or casually."

  "Didn't get to you, did I?" Jerris said with a disappointed look on his face. "Can't say that I'm surprised."

  "You're not entirely wrong, either." Darien continued. "I have killed a great many men, and goblins, orcs, dwarves, ogres, and every other race that dared to oppose the Master. Shades are taught, from the moment we are first accepted as apprentices, to remain calm in all situations. We are taught to suppress our feelings. 'Feelings make you weak, they distract you from what must be done. Never kill out of anger or fear or any other emotion. You should always kill exactly who you mean to, and when you mean to' he used to say."

  "The
Demon King said that? I would have thought he enjoyed killing and torturing from what you've told me," Jerris remarked.

  "No, not the Demon King."

  "Then who was it?" Jerris leaned in curiously.

  Darien hesitated for a moment, the memory of his old teacher flashing momentarily into his mind then vanishing again into the ether. "His name was Kirin," he finally answered. "The Master does not train new recruits initially. In fact, he rarely trains anyone personally. I was a… special case. But, for the first several years, I was taught by a shade named Kirin. He was a half-elf like myself. He first taught me what it meant to be a shade… or at least what he thought it meant…," Darien trailed off.

  "What happened to him? Will you have to fight him, do you think?"

  "No. He was executed for treason many years ago." The Executioner tried to remember exactly how it had happened, but the memory evaded him, like so many others from before he claimed the Demon Sword.

  After perhaps another hour of silence, Jerris rode up alongside Darien again. "So, what is it now?" Darien asked.

  "It's… something Tobin said to you. He said he knew about the weapon you carried and then looked at that sword you carry on your back," the lad asked nervously, his voice trembling noticeably. "I wasn't sure what it meant, but the look on his face when he said it was…," Jerris stopped, took a deep breath, then continued, "well, it was odd. He seemed frightened, even terrified. When I thought about it, I realized that I've never seen you take that sword out of that sheath on your back, not when you first fought those thugs, not when we encountered the Duke, nor any other time, but you always have it with you. It’s sort of odd to keep something so close that you never use."