Hero in the Shadows

by David Gemmell

  He strode from his rooms, climbing the steps to the upper buildings and the stable.

  “Will you ever learn?” he asked himself.

  Yu Yu Liang awoke to see sunshine streaming through a high arched window. It was bright on the white coverlet of his bed. He sighed and felt a pang of deep regret. His shoulder was painful, though he could not remember why, but the sharpness of it meant he was back in the world of the flesh. Sadness filled his mind as the feel of the sun and the whisper of a sea breeze leached away the exquisite harmony he had come to value so highly. A figure loomed over him, the face thin and ascetic, the nose long and curved. “How are you feeling?” asked the man. The noise was yet another intrusion, and Yu Yu felt the joy of the past years with Qin Chong slipping away. The question was asked again.

  “I am flesh again,” responded Yu Yu. “It saddens me.”

  “Flesh? I was talking about your wound, young man.”

  “My wound?”

  “In your shoulder. You were bitten. The Gentleman and your Chiatze companion brought you. You have been injured, young man. You have been unconscious for around fourteen hours.”

  “Hours?” Yu Yu closed his eyes. It was incomprehensible. On his journeys he had seen the births of worlds and the fall of stars, great empires rising from the mists of savagery before being swallowed by the oceans. He became aware of a dull, throbbing pain in his left shoulder. “Why am I back?” he asked.

  The man looked concerned. “You were bitten last night by a demon beast,” he said slowly. “But the wound is clean now. You are recovering well. I am Mendyr Syn, the surgeon. And you are resting in the palace of Dakeyras, the Gentleman.”

  Bitten last night.

  Yu Yu groaned as he struggled to sit. Instantly Mendyr Syn’s hands came down on his good shoulder. “Lie still. You will break the stitches.”

  “No. I must sit up,” muttered Yu Yu.

  Mendyr Syn transferred his grip to Yu Yu’s right biceps, assisting him. “This is not wise, young man. You are very weak.” The surgeon adjusted the pillows behind the wounded man, and Yu Yu sagged back to them.

  “Where is Kysumu?”

  “He has gone with the duke and his men. He will be back shortly, I don’t doubt. How does the wound feel?”

  “Painful.”

  Mendyr Syn filled a goblet with cool water and held it to Yu Yu’s lips. It tasted divine as it slipped down his parched throat. Resting his head back against the pillow, he closed his eyes once more and drifted into a dreamless sleep. When he awoke, the sunshine no longer lit the bed but was shining brightly against the far wall.

  The room was empty, and Yu Yu was thirsty again. Pushing back the covers, he tried to swing his legs from the bed.

  “Stay where you are, yellow man,” said a voice. “You are in no condition to get up.” Another figure loomed over him. He looked up into the man’s face, noting the swollen nose and the two discolored eyes. It was the golden-haired guard sergeant who had accosted him so many years ago. It was all so confusing. “What is it you need?” asked the man.

  “Some water,” said Yu Yu. The sergeant filled a goblet and sat on the bed, offering it to Yu Yu, who took it with his right hand and drank deeply. “Thank you.” He struggled to think. So many scenes were whirling inside his head like a bag of pearls without a string. Closing his eyes, he slowly and carefully began to thread the thoughts. He had left the lands of the Chiatze after thrashing Shi Da. Then he had met the robbers and later Kysumu. Together they had come … For a moment he drifted. Then he recalled the palace and the mysterious Gray Man. His eyes flared open. “Where is my sword?”

  “You won’t need a sword for a while,” said the sergeant. “But it is there by the wall.”

  “Pass it to me, please.”

  “Of course.”

  “Touch only scabbard,” warned Yu Yu. The guard hefted the weapon and laid it by Yu Yu’s side. Then he returned to his chair by the door. “Why are you here?” asked Yu Yu.

  “The Gentleman ordered me to guard you.” He smiled. “He obviously thinks you have enemies.”

  “Are you one of them?”

  The man sighed. “Yes, I am. I’ll be honest. I don’t like you, yellow man. But I take my pay from the Gentleman. He treats me well, and in return I obey his orders. Fully. I don’t much care if you live or die, but not one of your—other—enemies will reach you while I live.”

  Yu Yu smiled. “May you live long,” he said.

  “Is it true you were attacked by demon hounds?”

  The jagged memories filtered back, the ruins and the moonlight, the black hounds moving stealthily through the shadows. “Yes, true.”

  “What were they like?”

  “Make wolves look like piglets,” Yu Yu answered, with an involuntary shudder.

  “You were frightened?”

  “Big fear. How is your nose?”

  “Painful.” The man shrugged. “I should have remembered my father’s advice: If you’re going to fight, then fight. Don’t talk. You hit hard, yellow man.”

  “My name is Yu Yu.”

  “I am Emrin.”

  “Pleased for to meet with you,” said Yu Yu.

  “Don’t be too pleased. It is my intention to pay you back just as soon as you are fit and strong.”

  Yu Yu smiled, then slept again. When he awoke, there was no sunlight. Emrin had lit a lantern and hung it by the far wall. The soldier was dozing in his chair. Yu Yu was hungry and looked around the room for something to eat. There was nothing. Carefully, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and, using his scabbarded sword as a support, pushed himself to his feet. His legs were a little unsteady.

  Emrin woke. “What do you think you are doing?” he asked.

  “I am going to find food,” said Yu Yu.

  “The kitchen is two floors down. You’d never make it. Wait for a while. One of the girls will be bringing supper in an hour or so.”

  “I don’t like lying here,” said Yu Yu. “I don’t like being … weak.” His legs suddenly gave way, and he slumped back down to the bed. He swore in Chiatze.

  “All right,” said Emrin. “I’ll assist you. But you can’t go wandering about the palace naked.” Striding across the room, he gathered up Yu Yu’s clothes and tossed them to the bed. Yu Yu managed to pull on his leggings, and Emrin helped him into his wolfskin boots. There was no way Yu Yu could lift his injured left arm to put on his shirt, and so, bare-chested and supported by Emrin, he made his way to the door.

  “You are heavier than you look, yellow man,” said Emrin.

  “And you not as strong as you look, Broken Nose,” countered Yu Yu.

  Emrin chuckled and pulled open the door. Slowly the two men made their way down the corridor toward the stairs.

  A few minutes after they had gone a small globe of bright light materialized outside the door to Yu Yu’s room. Cold air emanated from it. A layer of frost covered the carpet. The globe swelled, forming a white, icy mist that swirled and grew until it reached from floor to ceiling. A shuffling sound emanated from the mist, and two enormous creatures stepped clear of it. They were bone-white and hairless. One ducked its head and entered the room, its massive arm lashing out at the bed. The frame split as the bed crashed into the far wall. The second lowered its head, its small red eyes staring malevolently down the corridor. A third beast slithered from the mist, a scaled white serpent with a long flat head. The head swayed from side to side just above the carpet, snuffling air through four slitted nostrils. Then it began an undulating glide along the corridor toward the stairs.

  The mist rolled back across the other beasts.

  And flowed along the corridor, following the serpent.

  The kitchen was some fifty feet long and twenty feet wide, boasting several large stone-dressed iron ovens. Shelves lined the north wall, on which were placed stacks of plates, jugs, and cups. There were five huge and splendidly crafted glass-fronted cabinets containing engraved crystal goblets and dishes. Below the shelves were
cupboards filled with cooking utensils and cutlery. There were two main doors, one set against the eastern wall, leading to the stairs and the south tower, and the other opening onto a broad, winding staircase that emerged into the main banqueting hall.

  There were no windows, and despite a hidden series of chimneys that carried away much of the heat from the ovens, the kitchen could become intolerably warm when large amounts of cooked food were being prepared and a score of servants were scurrying around.

  Even now, with the servants abed and only two lanterns burning, it still retained some of the heat produced in the preparation of the evening meals some two hours before. Keeva moved to a drawer and took out a knife, then opened the pantry door and removed a round crusty loaf, a slab of honey-roasted ham, and a dish of butter, which she placed on the long marble-topped table.

  “That is a meat knife,” Norda said with a laugh. “Do you know nothing, farm girl?”

  Keeva pushed out her tongue at her and continued to clumsily carve slices from the loaf. “A knife is a knife,” she said. “If it is sharp, it will cut bread.”

  Norda rolled her eyes in mock horror. “There are fish knives, bread knives, meat knives, carving knives, shell knives, fruit knives, cheese knives. You’ll have to learn them, you know, if you are ever to wait tables at the Gentleman’s banquets.”

  Keeva ignored her, lifted the top from the butter dish, and smeared a slab over her bread.

  “Oh, yes,” said Norda, “and there are butter knives.”

  “What a complete waste of metal,” mocked Keeva.

  Norda laughed again. “Knives are like men: Each has a different purpose. Some are great hunters, some are great lovers.”

  “Sshhh! Not in front of the boy!”

  Norda laughed again. “He is asleep. It is so like children. First they want to play, then they get hungry, and by the time you’ve brought them to the kitchen and prepared some food, they are fast asleep and you are left with a mountain of bread.” The two women stood for a moment, gazing at the small, blond boy asleep on the bench, his head resting on his arm. “So sweet,” whispered Norda. “One day he’ll be a ladies’ man. You can tell. Those baby blue eyes will melt the hardest heart. They’ll be slipping out of their dresses faster than you can say ‘knife.’ ”

  “Maybe he won’t be like that,” said Keeva. “Maybe he’ll fall in love with one woman, get married, and have a fine family.”

  “True,” agreed Norda. “He might turn out dull.”

  “Oh, you are incorrigible!” Keeva cut some cold ham, placed it between two slices of buttered bread, and took a huge bite.

  “That’s disgusting!” cried Norda. “And now you’ve got butter on your chin.”

  Keeva wiped her chin with her arm, then licked the butter from it. “Too good to waste,” she said, laughing at Norda’s expression of mock disgust. “Now show me those wondrous knives.”

  The blond woman moved to a pine drawer and gathered up two handfuls of bone-handled blades, arranging them on the table before Keeva. They ranged in size from about eight inches long and fearsomely sharp to two inches long with rounded tips. One was curved like a tulwar, ending in two prongs.

  “What is that?” Keeva asked.

  “It is for cheese. First you cut a chunk, then you reverse the blade and pierce it with the prongs.”

  “They are very beautiful,” said Keeva, examining the ornately carved bone handles.

  The door at the far end of the kitchen was pushed open, and Keeva saw Emrin enter. He was supporting Yu Yu Liang. The Chiatze’s face was gray with exhaustion, but he gave a wide smile when he saw Norda. Emrin was not so pleased, his handsome mouth becoming a grim line.

  “Ah, my day brightens!” said Yu Yu. “Two beautiful women—and some food!”

  Emrin released his arm, and Yu Yu tottered for a moment, holding his balance only by leaning on his scabbarded sword. Emrin stomped to the long table, drew his hunting knife, and sliced himself several pieces of meat. Norda ran to Yu Yu’s side and helped him to the table.

  “My two favorite men,” she said.

  “You have too many favorites,” snapped Emrin.

  Norda turned to Keeva and gave her a wink. “He fought for me, you know. Isn’t that gallant?”

  “I didn’t fight for you,” snapped Emrin. “I fought because of you. There is a difference.”

  “And doesn’t he look handsome with his war wounds?” continued Norda. “Those dark, brooding eyes, that big, swollen nose?”

  “Stop it, Norda!” ordered Keeva. She moved around the table and took Emrin’s arm. “I, for one, am proud of you.”

  “For what?” said Norda. “For ramming his nose into Yu Yu’s fist?”

  “Oh, shut up!” snapped Keeva. “He has spent today guarding Yu Yu and has even helped him down to the kitchen. It takes a man to be able to put his anger aside for the sake of duty.”

  “Aye, he is a good man,” said Yu Yu. “I like him. Everybody like him. Now can we eat?”

  “You are shivering!” said Norda, moving around behind Yu Yu. “You shouldn’t be up, you foolish man!”

  A cold breeze filtered through the far doorway. Keeva ran to the door, pushing it shut and dropping the latch, while Norda fetched a blanket, which she draped over Yu Yu’s shoulders.

  “I had not realized it gets so cool in here,” said Emrin. But the women ignored him and continued to fuss over the wounded man, preparing him food and a goblet of peach juice.

  Emrin wandered away from the table. He could hear sounds on the stairs beyond the second door. He strolled toward it. It opened just as he reached it. The elderly Omri entered, followed by two warriors and a young man. Omri nodded toward Emrin, then called out to Keeva to bring some food for Niallad and his bodyguards.

  The duke’s son halted by the sleeping child and grinned down at him. “I think we tired him out at the beach,” he said.

  Keeva carved a dozen thick slices of cold ham, divided it onto three platters, and offered it to the newcomers, who sat at the table and began to eat. The young noble thanked her, but the two guards merely tore into the meat. One of them, the taller of the two, a heavily bearded man with deep-set brown eyes, glanced at Yu Yu’s sword resting on the tabletop. The hilt was black and unadorned, as was the lacquered wooden scabbard.

  “Doesn’t look anything special to me,” he said, reaching out toward it.

  “Don’t touch it,” said Yu Yu.

  “Or what?” the man snapped aggressively, his hand still moving.

  “Do as he says, Gaspir,” ordered the young noble. “It is his blade, after all.”

  “Yes, sir,” said Gaspir, casting a malevolent glance at Yu Yu. “It is all rubbish, anyway. Magic swords!”

  The boy Beric awoke and sat up. He blinked and stretched, then suddenly screamed. Keeva followed his gaze. A white mist was swirling under the far door. Yu Yu saw it and muttered a curse. He groaned as he reached for his sword, dragging it from the scabbard. The blade was glowing with a shimmering blue light. Yu Yu tried to stand but fell against the table.

  “What is going on?” shouted Omri, his face gray with fear.

  “Demons … are here,” said Yu Yu, levering himself up. Blood began to soak through the bandage on his shoulder.

  Omri backed away from the mist, toward the door through which he had entered only moments before. Emrin saw that the old man was trembling uncontrollably. “Steady, my friend,” he whispered.

  “Must get out,” said Omri.

  The mist was rising steadily, the temperature dropping fast. Gaspir and Naren also moved back from the table, blades in hand. Keeva reached out and hefted a long carving knife, balancing it in her hand.

  “We have to run!” cried Omri, his voice quavering. Emrin swung toward him. The old man turned and moved toward the other door. Emrin was about to follow him when he saw a faint, swirling mist seeping beneath the frame. Omri was almost at the door. The guard sergeant shouted after him: “Don’t, Omri! The mist—”

>   He was too late. Omri yanked at the latch. As the door swung inward, white mist enveloped the old man. A massive taloned arm slashed out, crunching through bone and sending a bloody spray across the dining table. A second blow smashed Omri’s skull to shards.

  Emrin hurled himself at the door, slamming it shut and dropping the latch even as Omri’s lifeless body hit the floor. There was a thundering crash, and a panel on the door split. Emrin drew his sword and backed away toward the center of the room.

  Another crash came from the second door. Yu Yu staggered forward, then fell. Emrin grabbed his arm, hauling him to his feet. The page Beric had ceased his screaming and was cowering on the bench. Keeva ran to him. She reached out for him, but he squirmed away and ran back to where the others waited. The youth Niallad drew his dagger, then placed his hand on the little boy’s shoulder. “Be brave, Beric. We will protect you,” he said, but his voice was fearful, his hands trembling. The page crouched down and crept under the table. Norda was already there, her hands over her face.

  Icy mist swirled across the stone floor. The right-hand door gave way, and a wall of mist swept across the room. Yu Yu’s sword came up. Blue lightning lanced through the mist, leaping and crackling. A terrible cry of pain came from within the icy fog.

  “Lift up your sword!” Yu Yu told Emrin. The guard sergeant did so, and Yu Yu touched his own blade to it. Instantly blue fire flowed from one weapon to the other. “You, too!” Yu Yu ordered Gaspir and Naren. Their blades also began to flicker. “It will not last long,” said Yu Yu. “Attack now!”

  For a moment only they hesitated, then Emrin charged the mist, swinging his sword into it. Lightning crackled, and the mist retreated farther. Gaspir and Naren joined him. A huge white form leapt from the mist, cannoning into the black-bearded Gaspir, who was hurled from his feet. Naren panicked and tried to run. As the bodyguard turned, the beast swung its arm. Keeva saw Naren arch backward, talons punching through his back and exiting from his chest. Blood exploded from the dying man’s mouth. Emrin ran in, slamming his sword into the beast’s belly and ripping the blade up through its chest. It let out a bellow of pain and hurled Naren’s body away. Then it turned on Emrin. Keeva lifted her arm and hurled the carving knife across the room. As the beast loomed over Emrin, the blade slashed into its eye socket, plunging deep. At that moment Yu Yu Liang staggered forward and swung the Rajnee sword. It sliced deep into the hairless white neck, cutting through muscle and bone. The great beast toppled sideways, striking the table and overturning it.