At least I hoped so.
We survived the night, although the bugs that infested the Sorrows reminded me of my favorite use of the Darkness. Things had crawled on me and buzzed in my ears while I tried to sleep. I was pretty sure some were inside my clothes. Could just enough of the powers of hell to get rid of the fleas and ticks and mosquitoes really be so bad?
Insects aside, the next day proved amazingly uneventful. Once Owl and Mist stopped, listening to something off to our left that only they could hear. As they crouched silently, Sam interrupted with a loud bark. A chorus of howls came back. I was surprised to hear Sam howl in return.
“I told you she was a wolf,” I told Furat.
“Dogs howl,” he snapped. But he looked at the shaggy white canine just a little bit suspiciously.
The natives straightened up and continued. “Just wolves. Not dangerous to so many of us,” Midnight Owl explained.
“What if they’re infected?”
Owl shook his head. “The Power does not take wolves.”
“It infects bears and pigs. Why not wolves?”
“The Power does not take wolves.”
I hoped he was right. Whether he was or not, the wolves settled for howling twice more, then skulked away. I think Sam was disappointed.
It was near the end of the day when we saw a thin trail of smoke rising above the trees.
“This is it!” I exclaimed.
“Quietly, then,” Owl scolded me. “We must go carefully.”
I laughed. “No point.”
And with that I pushed past Owl and Mist, trampling through the underbrush as if I were in a park at Our Lady. The natives followed me, nervously darting glances from side to side.
We had found the little dale where Seven made his home. There was still the fire pit with smoke rising from it, the thatched hut, the stone statue. The only thing I didn't see was the Hellguard himself.
“It is not here,” Owl said quietly. “We can still escape.”
“Just because you don’t see him doesn’t mean he’s not here.”
“We would sense a creature of that sort.”
“No you wouldn’t.” The booming voice came from behind us. Sam let out a startled yelp from a dozen yards away. Owl and Mist spun, eyes wide with panic. The look of terror on Furat’s face was priceless.
Furat was a big man, as massive as Grigg, Yoshana’s hulking Select lieutenant. He looked puny next to the Hellguard. Seven stood at least six and a half feet tall, massively muscled, inhumanly broad shouldered. His close-cropped hair was as dark as his eyes, his skin a red so deep as to be almost black. He still carried the massive steel spear he’d used when I’d first met him, a seven-foot metal shaft an inch thick. It must have weighed thirty pounds, but it dangled in his massive fist like a twig.
“I said you were welcome to come back, Minos. I didn’t say I was setting up a hotel. What’s with the crowd?”
It only then occurred to me that a demon who’d lived in solitude for three hundred years might not take kindly to four uninvited guests and their dog. I swallowed hard and looked him in the eyes.
“I need your help.”
Seven, Furat, and I sat on the fallen log by his fire. Owl and Mist squatted on the far side of the ring of stones, visibly terrified. I was between Seven and Furat, who was putting on a pretty brave face, all things considered. The Hellguard scratched Sam behind the ears. The dog seemed completely at ease with him, rubbing against his leg and wagging her tail enthusiastically.
“I’ve heard of these spirit dogs but never seen one,” the demon said. “Looks like some kind of giant Samoyed.”
“They breed them to detect the Darkness,” Furat volunteered. “Cats are even better at it. But the first time a cat senses a wraith it takes off and you never see it again.”
“How come she likes you so much?” I asked, then pointed to the natives. “She hates these two.”
“I’m not using enough of it for her to sense. Usually I keep a shield right on my skin to deflect probes, but I pulled that in so I could pet her. ’Cause you’re a pretty girl, aren’t you?” He thumped the dog’s shoulder. She put her head on his knee.
“Speaking of deflecting, Minos, either you got better at shielding than me over the last year, or it ain’t in you anymore.”
I stared at the ground, embarrassed. “Yeah, well, that’s why I’m here. I couldn’t control it, Seven. It was turning me into something I didn’t like. Prophetess cast it out of me.”
The Hellguard let out a low whistle. “That’s pretty slick. I’d heard the Universal Church claimed it could exorcise the prant, but I didn’t think it would work with as much as you had in you.”
“Tess is pretty special. But now we have to face the Darkness Radiant, and I may possibly have challenged Yoshana to single combat without even having the Darkness in me anymore.”
Seven stopped scratching behind Sam’s ears. She butted him with her head, but he ignored her, staring at me instead. “And so that’s why you thought it would be a good idea to haul your sorry ass across the Sorrows with a couple of possessed, some random dude, and your dog, and beg me for help. That about the size of it?”
I nodded and forced myself to meet his eyes. “Yep.”
“I’ll say this, kid. You are, without doubt, the craziest son of a bitch I’ve met in three hundred years.”
6. On the Front
I’d forgotten the noise and stink of an army in the field. Back among the low, rolling hills of the Source, we saw my forces before we heard them or smelled them. But not by much. Oxen lowed, donkeys brayed, thousands of swords and pots and God knew what else clanged and rattled and thumped. Four thousand men shouted and laughed and cursed. And voided their bowels in shallow, hastily dug latrines. And didn’t bathe. In a way completely different from the Sorrows, it was almost as overwhelming.
The complaints started the moment I arrived. To his credit, Railes had the unflappable Sergeant Herin square away my companions before he unloaded on me. But he started up as soon as they were out of earshot.
“Boss, the only reason you’ve still got a job is because no one else wants to be responsible for the cluster they see coming. The mayor’s been spouting off ever since you left about how irresponsible it was for you to take off and leave your command. And our guys have been pretty good, but the Monolith folks keep whining about working with the Darkness. The hellfire and damnation stuff is getting old, and I can’t get ’em to shut up, and Hake wasn’t really trying, and Lago sure as hell isn’t.”
“‘Our guys’ have been pretty good?” I asked waspishly. “Isn’t it supposed to be one army? Nice that even my own adjutant is playing ‘us and them.’”
Railes spat in the grass, completely unabashed. “If we call a dog’s tail a leg, how many legs does it have? Four, ’cause calling a tail a leg don’t make it one. Pretending it’s one army don’t make it one, boss. Speaking of dogs, that was a good looking one you brought in. Or was it one of those wolves from up by the ice sheets?”
“Her owner keeps saying she’s a dog. Looks more like a wolf to me. She’s friendly, though, and she can sense the Darkness, which might very well come in handy.” I noticed Railes had changed the subject. “Are you done griping at me, or is there more?”
“Oh, there’s more. General Hake didn’t like that his troops got left on garrison duty at Our Lady and Lago’s guys are here at the front. The Shadowed Hand doesn’t like that they’re reporting to Lago ’cause they’re the only Rockwall troops up here and Lago’s in charge. Nobody likes the food. We’ve been set up here for two weeks and the guys are bored. Or nervous. Or nervous and bored. Nobody knew when you were showing up, or if you were showing up, and now that you’ve showed up, no one knows what’s going to happen next. You want me to go on?”
I sighed. “Not really. I’ve got to go talk to Prophetess and get the other earful.”
“You think this is going to work, boss?”
“Sure. I mean, it better.”
>
I was hoping for one of Prophetess’ spectacular hugs before she started on me. I didn’t get it. “Minos, you’ve been gone too long. Everyone’s in a panic.”
Before I could either ask how long she had thought it was going to take or point out that I was back now, she was launching her second thrust. “I wasn’t happy about one person infected with the Darkness. You brought dozens. What were you thinking?”
Twenty warriors from Midnight Owl’s clan had joined us. It wasn’t exactly dozens, but it was definitely more than one. “Um… the more the merrier?”
She didn’t see the humor. “Also, your adjutant and Cat have gotten friendly while they’ve been guarding me.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Too friendly, Minos.”
Light dawned. “Well, I guess she might stab him to death if they have a spat, but he’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.”
She actually stamped her foot in exasperation. “Minos, she can’t be more than fifteen! He’s at least ten years older than she is.”
“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure she’s past whatever the paleo age of consent is. She’s killed more people than almost any veteran in this army. She can take care of herself too.”
“Minos…”
“What do you want me to do, Tess? Tell Railes to leave her alone? Talk to him about the birds and the bees? Have you talked to Cat about that, by the way? Because I’m not having that conversation with her.”
“Minos… never mind. I’m nervous. I don’t think this is the right thing to do. I don’t think BlackShield Lago does either. I know Mayor Arnage doesn’t. There’s been a lot of talk in the town and now in the camp.”
“A little late now.” I tried to keep my tone light, but I don’t think I succeeded. The time to stop me, to come up with some better idea, would have been before I went into the Sorrows. Second-guessing at this point wasn’t going to help.
Prophetess let out a long sigh and slumped, as if all the air were going out of her. “I know…. that… what you’ve brought….”
I was shocked to see tears welling up in her eyes. She continued in a small voice, frightened and angry. “Everybody’s been looking at me while you’ve been gone, like I’m supposed to know how to run an army. Like I’m supposed to know how to comfort all these people. I don’t know if we’re doing the right thing, or if we’re all going to die, or for that matter if we’re all going to hell. Do you think this is going to work?”
I forced a smile.
“Sure. I mean, it better.”
It had only taken a little over a month to make the trip to the Sorrows and back. I had more than three weeks before the duel. Plenty of time to prepare. And plenty of time for everyone to sit around getting even more nervous.
The Monolith troops had drawn up in an arc to the northwest of the hill Tolf had chosen. It had only one tree on its crown rather than several as I’d asked, but that one was big. It would do.
My next meeting was with BlackShield Jarl Lago. I’d left him in command of the Monolith forces, and put those forces in the field, for a reason. The Rockwall and Monolith brigades wouldn’t work together effectively, so it was better to split them up. Except for my Shadowed Hand special forces, the Monolith troops were the better soldiers. Even if my old buddies from General Hake’s Rockwall brigade felt like second-class citizens left behind to garrison Our Lady. They might thank me for it later.
“Judge Minos.” Jarl Lago was old, tough, thick-bodied, and bearded. He had a deep, gruff voice and the calluses of an officer who still took part in close-combat drills. I wouldn’t want to fight him hand to hand.
“BlackShield. The men seem to be in good order.” Monolith discipline was famous. Man for man, his troops were better than Stephensburg’s regulars as well as Rockwall’s. Or they had been, until Stephen’s men had fallen under the command and training regimen of the Darkness Radiant.
“Thank you. They are.”
“You need to shift the anchor points of the formation, though. They can’t be up against the forest.”
Lago frowned. “Doctrine demands cover from flanking cavalry.”
“Doctrine wasn’t considering an enemy armed with the Darkness.”
“Judge Minos, with all due respect, I have my rangers positioned in the woods. They will not be taken by surprise.”
“BlackShield Lago, with all due respect, I personally routed a company of your rangers in the woods. By myself, before the Shadowed Hand was even trained. I don’t know how many of Yoshana’s army command the Darkness, but I know at least three of them are a lot stronger than I was. Move your men away from the trees, and set torches. Lots of torches. Set up barricades to protect against cavalry. I suggest cutting wood may be an excellent way to keep the troops busy.”
Lago saluted. “It will be so.”
“Also, I brought back some… irregular troops from the Sorrows.”
The Paladin’s eyes narrowed, virtually disappearing into a maze of wrinkles. “I have begun to hear rumors. Wild men touched by the Darkness. My soldiers will not like it.”
“No, I don’t expect they will. I’m putting the Shadowed Hand directly under my personal command and attaching the irregular troops to it.”
“That is wise.” If he was offended that I’d pulled my old unit out from under him, he gave no sign.
“And I need that hilltop under constant observation. Patrolled day and night. With torches. Yoshana’s going to assume she can win a trial by combat, but she might try to cheat anyway. We need to make sure she doesn’t sneak in and set any traps up there.”
He repeated, “It will be so.” The old soldier puffed out air, pursed his lips, and stared into my eyes. “This plan of yours, Judge Minos. It is clever, but I fear it may be too clever by half. You have said yourself that Yoshana is ruthless and cunning. Do you think this will work?”
“Sure. I mean, it better.”
Doctor John Dee was, as always, an overflowing fountain of words.
“It’s amazing, Minos. I’d heard of spirit dogs but I’d never seen one. And then those warriors of the Hidden Moon Clan, a whole tribe infected with the Darkness but retaining enough control to assert their human nature. Not to mention -”
“Dee. Rhapsodize later. Plan now. I need you to bring me up to date. What did Yoshana say?”
His face clouded. “Ah. Well. Evidently Roshel reached her with your proposal before I did.”
“Yes, I assumed she would. Did you think you’d get there faster than an Overlord?”
“Yoshana asked whether you had sent me as a sacrifice, since you’d already sent a messenger.”
“She was just kidding, Dee.” That was a safe conclusion, since he was still alive.
“She was smiling when she said it. That did not give me a great deal of confidence that she was just kidding. She is a terrifying creature, Minos.”
I didn’t need to be reminded. I’d spent months in her company. The occasional nightmares about her had lasted far longer.
“She… er… she then went on at some length about what she was going to do to you. She was smiling when she said that as well, but I’m afraid I don’t believe it was said in jest.”
It wouldn’t have been. I’d watched Yoshana pull out a man’s trachea without changing expression, and reduce a native of the Sorrows to a shapeless mass of bones and fluids. And neither of them had annoyed her nearly as much as I had.
“I don’t suppose any of it bears repeating?”
Dee looked like he might cry. “I’d rather not.”
“Probably better.” That bit of morbid curiosity would get satisfied the hard way if things didn’t work out. I patted him on the shoulder. “She said she’d come, though?”
“Oh, yes. She seemed very enthusiastic.”
For some reason it was those last words that really made my stomach sink.
“Minos… you’ve come very far and grown a great deal since we first met. But… do you really think this will work?
”
“Sure. I mean, it better.”
Sam and Furat quickly became favorites in the camp. The dog and her owner were both friendly and outgoing. I couldn’t quite figure out what do with them, so I attached them to Tess’ bodyguard. A big dog that could detect the Darkness would be helpful for protecting someone Roshel had already tried to kill once. And Furat was very quick with his huge pistol.
I’d been worried about how Cat would react to the giant animal, but after some cautious sniffing from both sides, they’d become fast friends.
I was surprised Furat had decided to join us and told him so, not for the first time.
“The food’s got to be better back at your place.” We were living on some kind of oatmeal gruel and thin beer. The days when Almet’s Brewery was supplying the officers on the march with fine cider were long gone. I would have settled for some of the mule stew we’d gotten back in my Rockwall army days. I was going to have words with the quartermaster if I survived what was coming.
“Yep. So’s the company.” He grinned to take the sting out of the bantering insult. “But I figured if I was going to do the hard part of getting you through the Sorrows, I should stay around to watch the epic battle.”
“I’m not going to tell you the same lie Yoshana told me. Getting through the Sorrows wasn’t the hardest part.”
He chuckled. “It was for me. I’m not fighting in the big duel.”
“If everything goes according to plan. Which it very well may not. I’ve got four thousand soldiers here for a reason. This is not necessarily going to be a safe patch of land to be standing on.”
“I thought you’d been telling everyone this plan of yours is going to work.”
“Yeah. Like I keep saying, it better. Otherwise I’m dead and we’re fighting an army that’s almost certainly bigger than ours and almost certainly better armed and trained. The fact that we’re screwed if the plan doesn’t work doesn’t actually mean it’s going to.”
Furat cracked a big grin. “So basically you’ve been feeding everyone a line of crap.”
Passing Through Darkness- The Complete Cycle Page 65