All its sharpened fangs were visible in the smile it showed Dee. The occultist finally looked perturbed.
“Or even a Select.” It turned and leered at me. “One day, this accumulation will be strong enough to control one of the masters.”
For a moment, the naked lust on the creature’s face reminded me of Stephen before Melaret had killed him. The wraith’s self-control was better, and the expression passed quickly. It still felt like a cloud had shadowed the sun.
“How much farther to Eeltown?” Tess wondered aloud.
The days were long at the height of summer, and we made good progress. Still, we’d be at least one more day on the road. I’d seen no signs of a town or even an inn. Farms lined the road, corn growing about to the height of the horses’ bellies. The farmhouses stood off in the distance down narrow dirt lanes. I wasn’t going to impose Legion and his men on anyone’s hospitality.
We pulled off into a wide, flat place at the side of the road as twilight was coming on. This spot was an established campsite; there was a small fire pit and a lean-to that would help cut the wind in winter, though it wasn’t necessary at this time of year.
While the others unsaddled the horses, I scrounged for brush and fallen branches. Stacking them in the fire pit, I used flint and steel and a bit of oil to kindle a blaze.
“Are you cold, Judge Minos?” Legion asked.
“No.” Although the sun was setting, the air was warm. It wouldn’t be chilly even in the dark of night.
“Do you have some food to cook, then?”
“Nope.” We had the usual, sad collection of travel provisions - pemmican and hard bread. There was enough water in our skins to reach Eeltown and no need to boil more.
“Then I have to wonder… you don’t think such a small flame can protect you from me, do you?”
“Ambassador, I’m shocked. I wouldn’t begin to suspect treachery from the Hellguard, or entertain even the remotest possibility that you’d try to murder us in our sleep. But, since you mention it, it might be useful to be able to set you on fire if the need arises.”
Cat grinned.
“I assure you, Judge Minos, it will not.” The wraith smiled.
“And I’m very grateful for that assurance.” I turned to Dee. “You and I will have the first shift. Tess and Cat will take the second. Needless to say, if our friends here make any move toward us, or you feel even the slightest tendril of the Darkness, kill them all and burn the remains.”
I returned Legion’s smile. “Good night, Ambassador.”
For all my bluster, I had my doubts about our ability to deal with a wraith of Legion’s size plus four soldiers. So it was with a profound sense of relief that I woke up the next morning to find our throats uncut.
The ambassador smiled blandly. “I trust you slept well, Judge Minos. During the shift you permitted yourself.”
“Like a baby, Ambassador.”
“Ah. So you woke up crying every few hours? I’m sorry, I didn’t notice.”
That wraith was much more sophisticated than a cloud of Darkness had any right to be. It didn’t help that Tess chuckled at the creature’s joke. I’d gotten used to losing battles of wits with a self-educated farm girl who’d grown up on the edge of a garbage dump. Now I was losing to something that wasn’t even human.
Cat’s expression was so artificially innocent that I shook my head. “Don’t you start too.” The paleo tried and failed to suppress a snicker.
It figured. I was trying to save the world and my allies were enjoying jokes at my expense by the forces of hell.
It took another full day of throbbing knee and sore backside to reach the town, but there was still plenty of daylight left when we made our way to the open gate in a low barricade that was more fence than wall. Eeltown had a defensive perimeter, unlike the unwalled town surrounding Our Lady, but it was more notional than functional. It wouldn’t do much to slow down an army, or marauding Darkness clouds, or even a band of paleos. This deep into the Source it was relatively safe. It also might have helped that Eeltown didn’t look like it had anything that anyone would want.
“Eel Creek joins the Shining River here and increases its flow,” Dee volunteered. “This is the first point where a large boat can reliably navigate down to the Muddy even when the river’s low. So it’s a port, more than anything else.”
And apparently not much even of that. Eel Creek must have been the stream just past the fence, spanned by a wooden bridge just wide enough for a single wagon. The gate, in addition to being open, was completely undefended. I didn’t see many signs of activity in the town beyond.
“It’s getting late. People are probably at dinner,” Tess said. But she didn’t seem very impressed with the place either. Eeltown was a metropolis compared to the farming country near the Flow where she’d grown up and I’d met her, but she’d seen real cities since then, Oldtown and Our Lady and Stephensburg. It had been an eventful couple of years.
“Dinner is a charming notion,” Dee volunteered. I’d been contemplating the same thing myself, but the thought of taking the wraith and his soulless troops into a tavern weighed heavily against it. It said something about our present company that a Select and a paleo weren’t even close to the most socially unacceptable members of the group.
“I’m not sure it’s such a great idea,” I said. “We might attract the wrong kind of attention, and the last thing we want is to get into a fight. It’s still light out, and the river rafts run day and night. Let’s go down to the waterfront and see if we can find someone who’s willing to take us out.”
Tess shook her head. “That’s stupid, Minos. We have to stable or sell the horses, pick up provisions, and find a captain. You want to do all that before it gets dark, and skip the last chance we’ll have at a decent meal for weeks?”
“I’m just saying…”
“Come on, let’s go find somewhere to eat.”
“Dammit, Tess…” I muttered under my breath, but I knew I’d lost the argument.
Legion leered at me. “I had been told you commanded in Our Lady. Evidently I was misinformed.”
I snapped, “Evidently you don’t really know anything at all about humans. At least not the female kind.”
A narrow, paved path wound its way from the gate down to the river. One and two-story wooden buildings ringed with low fences crowded up to the side of the road. Much like Eeltown’s outer wall and the farms around the Flow, these barriers were more symbolic than real, usually just two horizontal slats stretched between posts. I wasn’t sure whether the structures beyond were houses or shops, or perhaps served double duty as both.
A block into the town, a tan and black dog charged up to a fence rail and barked furiously at us. Either it was generally bad tempered or it didn’t need to be a spirit dog to sense the Darkness animating the ambassador’s body. Legion’s troops marched on impassively, but the wraith recoiled.
I touched its shoulder. “Don’t.” The last thing we needed was a repeat of the ambassador’s confrontation with Sam. Legion looked surprised to see my hand on its body, but nodded and kept walking. The dog continued yapping long after we passed it. I noticed, however, that it could easily have passed through the fence but had chosen not to. So it was smarter than it looked.
Probably smarter than me.
Halfway to the river we came to an unfenced building, larger than most. A freshly painted sign showed a white sailboat on a clear blue river, with neat letters announcing “The Wind Drift” and “Food, Drink, and Lodging.”
“Here?” Tess asked.
I shrugged. “Why not?”
There was a stable, but no groom in evidence. I dismounted, staggered as my bad knee took my weight, and passed my reins to Dee. I was only beginning to lurch toward the front door when a big man came out, nearly as tall as Furat or Grigg, and wider.
“Sorry, stable boy’s sick,” he said. “I’m Karsten Vadlo, I run the place.”
Vadlo stopped in his tracks as he took in
my gray skin, white hair, and black eyes. “Oh, uh, you’re…” His eyes ran across my companions and widened further. “You’re not Judge Minos, are you? And… and Prophetess?”
I nodded.
“That’s - well, it’s an honor to have you, sir. My cousin’s in the army, he was at Darkness Falling.”
It was my own turn to do some figuring. Our Lady’s troops at the battle had all been from the Monolith, except for my Shadowed Hand special forces. Vadlo’s cousin would have been with the Darkness Radiant, one of Stephen’s men.
“I hope he was pleased with the outcome.”
“Lord yes, sir. He’s loyal to the Source and he goes where he’s told, but he’s happy as a clam not to be wondering anymore if he’s working for the devil herself.” Then, as if he might be having some doubts on that score, the innkeeper stared hard at Legion and his four expressionless soldiers. “Who are your friends, sir?”
Before I could open my mouth, the wraith said, “I am Legion, Ambassador of the Darklands, servant to the Hellguard. Now that Judge Minos has graciously removed our greatest enemy, we are seeking to reach an understanding.”
Vadlo looked like he’d swallowed a pickle whole. I glared at the ambassador.
“Will you, uh, be wanting to stay the night? Judge Minos?” By his tone, the big man was clearly hoping the answer was no.
I nodded. “Yes. We’ll need a room for Prophetess and her bodyguard, and Doctor Dee and I can share another. The ambassador and his companions can all sleep together.” I was more than half tempted to suggest they could do it in the stable, or maybe behind the outhouse.
“I’ll go get my wife started on that, then, and get back to see to your horses.” And he hurried inside.
“You’re a real help,” I snarled at Legion.
“Why, Judge Minos,” the wraith protested, its voice full of wounded innocence. “You don’t mean to suggest that you had intended to conceal the truth from your people? I would not have thought your faith approved of governing by deception.”
Vadlo was in a hurry to escort us to our chambers, guiding us through the common room as he said, “I’m sure you’ll, uh, be more comfortable dining in private with your party than down here in the crowd.” The crowd stared at us as we went by. There was plenty of space for us, but the looks we got ranged from curious to hostile. The innkeeper must have said something about our group. I wondered what.
“I’m starting to regret not letting Roshel burn that thing,” I grumbled when Dee and I were behind closed doors.
The occultist raised his eyebrows. “Do you mean that?”
I sighed. “I’m trying to be a nicer person so no, I don’t suppose I do. Irritating as it is, it’s still an ambassador. And it’s some kind of intelligent life, even if it’s not human. So no, I’m not going to set it on fire just because it annoys me. But if it gives me a good reason…”
Carefully wrapped at the top of my pack was a pair of oil grenades, modeled on the ones Furat had used against the Darkness and a herd of possessed swine in the Sorrows. He’d managed to kill a wraith. I figured I had a decent chance of taking care of this one, too, if it came to that.
“Minos,” Dee said seriously, “Be careful. Physically, of course. I don’t know how strong Legion is, but I have no doubt he’s a being of some potency. When he said Roshel could not command him, I don’t believe he was bluffing. But also, don’t forget that he is our adversary. His comment to the innkeeper was not made casually, or merely out of spite. Roshel was quite right. He is a deliberate provocation in every sense.”
I’d told Dee about my conversation with Roshel and Prophetess. But I was tired and grumpy and wasn’t following his point. “You want to be a little clearer on that?”
“Legion is deliberately undermining your support among the people. As you’ve observed, he’s more sophisticated than you would expect of a Darkness cloud. And those behind him are very, very sophisticated indeed.”
“Weren’t you the one who thought going to see Gurath was a good idea?”
“Oh, yes. Pursuing the option of peace is almost always preferable to war. But if I had to place money on the outcome of this mission, I’d bet against you.” Dee spoke quite cheerfully, as if discussing an academic problem and not the fact that we were going to die.
I remembered the Metropolitan’s warning against Gurath. I’d once been something of a dark power myself, and by luck or the grace of God - call it what you liked - I’d faced Yoshana and lived. Turning public opinion against us had been one of her techniques, but the demon lord would have three hundred years’ worth of additional tricks up his sleeve. Yoshana herself had told me, “The Hellguard deceived me, and I’m not easily deceived.”
It was beginning to come home to me that I really had no idea what I was getting into.
Cat greeted me with a bared blade when I knocked on their door the next morning. I didn’t mind. I liked that the paleo was careful - not to say paranoid. It had saved Tess before.
Inside the room, the object of that protection yawned and stretched in bed, under the covers. Tess was determined, energetic, and driven. But she liked her sleep. Cat, by contrast, hardly slept at all, and when she did she kept one eye open.
Traveling with “my woman” wasn’t going to be as much fun with the paleo stuck to her like a shadow. On the other hand, this trip wasn’t shaping up to be much fun anyway.
“Let’s get moving?” I said.
“Give me five minutes to get dressed.” I considered suggesting that I could stay and watch, but thought better of it. Tess would just turn bright red and throw a pillow at me. Cat might stab me.
I gave Tess her five minutes, then knocked again. Legion and its guards emerged from their room just before my fist touched the door, almost as if the wraith had been watching. Hah. Of course it had. Something like that didn’t need eyes to spy on us.
We all trooped downstairs together. It wasn’t early, but the common room - which had been so full the night before - was almost empty. A tall woman stood up from her chair. There was a thickset man with her, who stayed seated. Aside from them we were alone.
She smiled brightly and marched up to me. “I’m Losywa,” she announced, sticking out her hand.
I shook it. “I expect you’re looking for passage down the Shining?” she continued. She was as tall as Prophetess, and broader. She looked like she could be Hafnum Furat’s sister - big and blonde, though her eyes were brown rather than blue.
“How -”
“It’s really the only reason people come to Eeltown, so it’s not hard to figure out. Certainly anyone as important as you and Prophetess, Judge Minos. It’s an honor to meet you, and the ambassador too. I’m sure you’re doing the right thing, whatever Vadlo says. Did he defeat Yoshana? I don’t think so. So do I care what he thinks? Anyhow, what I mean to say is that of course Ram and I will take you down the river. I’m afraid none of the other raft captains is going to. So you’re sort of stuck with us.”
She kept smiling, the entire matter apparently resolved in her mind. The words had come out in a continuous stream. I wasn’t sure when she breathed. I couldn’t have interrupted if I’d wanted to.
“Bad idea, Loo,” the seated man grunted.
“Did I ask you, Ram? Don’t be rude. We talked about this already. Don’t mind my brother, Judge Minos. He helps pole the boat, and he makes sure the passengers behave.”
“What -”
“He throws them overboard if they don’t. You’d be amazed what you see on the river. Some people think their passage buys all kinds of other things. Not that you’d think that, of course. And it’s not too wide or too deep here, so if someone goes overboard, they generally get out all right. You wouldn’t want to get thrown over the side on the Muddy. Ram, come say hello.”
He rolled his eyes and stood. I could see the family resemblance to Losywa, but though his frame was massive he was no taller than his sister. I still would have given him good odds in a wrestling match with Railes or F
urat. He certainly wasn’t someone you’d want to annoy in a confined space, like on a boat.
He shook my hand, too, then made the rounds of the others. Unlike Losywa, he showed no qualms about touching Legion and the soulless. Despite what she’d said about being pleased to meet them, she hadn’t approached the wraith or its party.
“Well, then, I suppose I’m happy you’re willing to take us, Losywa. Ram.”
“Like I said, I’m honored, Judge Minos. Now of course there is the question of the fee. That’ll depend on how far down you’re going. I assume it’s all of you? I hope you aren’t planning on taking your horses? There isn’t really room and they don’t travel well.”
Again the bright smile. So she wasn’t so honored to serve Tess and me as to take us for free. That was fair enough - she had to eat too. All that talking must consume a lot of energy.
Legion hefted a small pouch. The contents clinked when the wraith bounced the bag in its palm. A claw-like fingernail teased open the drawstring knot, and Legion showed the captain a ten-weight gold coin. “Ten of these. To Delta City.”
Losywa’s eyes widened, and she was momentarily speechless. But only momentarily. “That’s very generous, Ambassador. Yes, totally acceptable. See, Ram, I told you this was a good idea. But I do hope you’ll leave the horses? Like I said, horses and rafts really don’t mix. I’ll buy them from you, if you give me an advance on the fee. That’ll be very clean and neat. And I’ll give you a fair price. I hate to say it, but if you sell them to Vadlo, he’ll probably cheat you. I mean, he’s a good man, don’t get me wrong. But I’m afraid he was really spooked by the ambassador. You know how people are.”
Even the wraith found it hard to get a word in edgewise. Taking advantage of a brief pause, it said, “One coin as an advance to purchase our horses. The other nine are yours when we reach Delta City.”
The captain nodded briskly. “Done. Do you have provisions for the trip down? It doesn’t seem like it. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that for you. Included in the price. Ram, can you go stock up on food and water? I’ll talk to Vadlo about the horses and get them squared away.”
Passing Through Darkness- The Complete Cycle Page 81