The Darkling Child

by Terry Brooks

  He was there because, when it was all over and done with, he intended to kill everyone left alive.

  There could be no witnesses to any of this, after all. This operation was outside the purview of his authority and would certainly not be sanctioned by the High Command, let alone the Prime Minister. No evidence of it could ever be allowed to surface. Once Arcannen was dead, he would eliminate the men with him, as well.

  What he wished at the moment, however, was that he had not been so hasty about coming out with Mallich. Staying aboard the airship, he might have remained somewhat dry and warm. Out here, he was merely miserable and irritated by the slowness of their progress. How long had they been walking, anyway?

  Ahead, Mallich slowed and looked back at him, motioning him forward and leaning close, his voice a whisper. “What remains of Arbrox is just around that cliff face. When we get there, I will send the oketar ahead to sniff around. They will keep to the ruins, so they shouldn’t trip the wards. Those will have been laid farther out along the inland perimeter. When they’ve found what we’re looking for, they will come back to me.”

  He started to turn away, but Usurient grabbed his arm. “Wait. How will we know what they have or haven’t found? They can’t talk, can they?”

  Mallich gave him a look. “They can to me. Have some faith, Dallen.”

  A few dozen yards farther on, they reached the bend in the cliff face and came to a second stop. Peering into the gloom ahead, Usurient could just make out what remained of the walls and roofs of Arbrox.

  Moments after that, Mallich dispatched the oketar and they disappeared into the ruins.

  —

  Arcannen was sitting at the little kitchen table reading from ancient books he had brought down from a set of shelves nearby, paying no attention to Reyn and Lariana as they sat next to each other in the adjoining room, heads together, whispering.

  “You risked too much out there!” the girl hissed at him, her face dark with anger and misgiving.

  “I risked what I had to,” he answered.

  “What if you had gone catatonic?”

  “But I didn’t! My control is getting better.”

  She shook her head. “One time. That’s all it was. You can’t be sure.”

  “You have to start somewhere. Besides, what other choice did I have?”

  Arcannen looked over suddenly. “Can you please take your conversation into the bedroom?” he asked irritably. “You are disrupting my concentration.”

  Lariana stood up abruptly and pulled Reyn up with her. “Fine. We’ll leave you to it.”

  The sorcerer went back to his reading. Lariana led Reyn into the bedroom and closed the door before turning to him again. “I don’t like how this is going,” she said so softly he almost couldn’t hear. “Why is he making you do this…this creating of people out of images? No, don’t say it’s to help you learn to control your magic. This can’t be the best way for you to learn to do that. By having you bring imaginary people to life?”

  They both paused, casting quick glances at the door. “I don’t know,” Reyn said finally. “How can anyone know what’s best?”

  “I know this much,” she answered. “It’s causing you considerable stress because it requires too much of you. Your problem, Reyn, has to do with reacting to threats, to dangerous situations. It has to do with fear that you can’t protect yourself. To stop that, you need to learn how to stay calm. How is any of what you are trying supposed to help?”

  He stared at her. “What are you saying? That I should stop doing what he’s asking of me?”

  “No, no, I’m not saying that.” She paused, brushing back loose strands of her gold-streaked hair. She glanced away, and her eyes had a distant, lost look to them. “You have to do what he tells you,” she said finally. Then her eyes shifted back to find his. “Because if you don’t, I’m not sure what will happen.”

  There was a long silence as he let that sink in. “You think I’m in danger, don’t you?”

  She nodded. “Maybe. Mostly because everyone who gets close to him is in danger. Even me.”

  “But he’s your mentor. He won’t hurt you.”

  She exhaled sharply. “I thought that was true once. I’m not so sure anymore.” She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “What I am sure of is that I will do anything I can to help you. But you have to be careful. You have to listen to me.”

  Arcannen rapped on the door sharply and then opened it, looking from one to the other. “What are you whispering about in there? Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

  Like they were children. Reyn shook his head. “We were just discussing ideas on how I can get better at bringing images to life. Lariana helped me before; I trust her.”

  Arcannen looked at her. No words were spoken, but something passed between them. The boy saw it clearly. An understanding, a shared insight, something—it was there. It made him wonder about what she had just told him. Was she really in any danger? Or was this all part of a game?

  The sorcerer turned away, pulling the door closed again. “A few more minutes,” he called over his shoulder.

  The boy and the girl sat quietly again, facing each other, saying nothing. Lariana’s hands still held his, squeezing and relaxing, over and over.

  Be careful, she mouthed. Promise me.

  He nodded. Then he leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the cheek, his lips close to her ear. You be careful, too.

  Her hands squeezed his even harder and did not let go.

  TWENTY

  “Boy, wake up!”

  Hands were shaking him, bringing him out of the dream he was having. In the dream, he was with Lariana. They were flying over a countryside filled with flowers, the hues forming an intense pattern beneath where they stood at the bow of an airship. The colors were brilliant and lustrous, shimmering in the sunlight, an endless blanket covering the earth below. He was smiling as he looked at Lariana, and she was smiling back at him with such love, such desperate want, that he could barely believe how lucky he was.

  “Reyn! Now! Get up! They’re here!”

  The dream vanished, and he opened his eyes, his vision blurry and dim. The room in which he had been sleeping was still mostly dark, lit only by a single candle in one corner. He sat up slowly on his sleeping mat and looked across the room to where Lariana, occupying the bed, was just waking, as well. The whole experience had a surreal feel to it.

  “Who’s here?” he asked.

  “Who do you think?” Arcannen snapped, turning away, heading for the door. “Be quick!”

  “What is he talking about?” Reyn muttered, blinking rapidly.

  “Those men sent to kill us. They’re here.” Lariana was sitting on the edge of her bed in her nightdress, looking over at him. “Remember?”

  He did, although he hadn’t thought about it much in the days he had been training to master his use of the wishsong. “They’re here?” he repeated, not quite awake yet.

  “Get dressed,” she told him, rising to snatch up her clothes before moving into a shadowed corner. She turned away from him and stripped off her sleeping garments.

  He looked down self-consciously, although it didn’t seem to bother her that he was in the same room. Turning away, he began pulling on his own clothes. Those men sent to kill us. What was he supposed to do? What did Arcannen expect of him?

  He worried about it as he finished pulling on his boots and found a fully dressed Lariana standing in front of him, waiting. “Ready?”

  To do what? But he didn’t ask. Instead, he simply nodded, rose, and followed her from the bedroom to the central living quarters of their underground lair, where Arcannen was waiting for them.

  “They were here last night, testing to discover if we were in residence, and apparently they decided that we were. They believed themselves quite clever, coming at us from the ocean side, thinking I would not bother putting up wards on that approach. So they tripped them, as I had intended they should, but they don’t realize we know this.” />
  He moved close to them, his eyes intense. “Now listen carefully. These are dangerous men, and they will not hesitate to kill any of us if they have the chance. I am quite certain they’ve killed before and more often than once. They know exactly how to carry out an assignment of this sort, and they are probably confident that we will not be able to stop them. But their confidence is misplaced. They are overmatched here. We will show them a quick finish.”

  “I don’t want to hurt anyone!” Reyn blurted out in dismay. “You promised me!”

  Arcannen took a moment to study him. “I know what I promised. And I know how to keep my promises. I will do what needs doing to rid us of these vermin. But remember, boy. Sometimes things don’t work out as you intend. No matter how good your intentions, they aren’t always enough. Promises can get you only so far. If one of these men gets past me, what are you going to do? Stand there and let him kill you? Or worse, kill me?”

  He waited for Reyn’s answer. The boy shook his head. “No, but I don’t want it to come to that. If I don’t stop hurting people now, I probably never will.”

  The sorcerer sighed. “How confident are you that you can control your magic? Is your confidence solid enough to tell me you can? No exceptions or excuses?”

  “I can control it.”

  “Good. Then I have a plan. But it depends on you being able to make your magic work the way you did last night. Can I depend on you?”

  Reyn nodded. “What sort of plan?”

  “A simple one. Simple plans always work best. You will create images and bring them to life. A series of them, if you can manage it. You will point your creations against these intruders to distract them, and while they are busy fighting off shadows, I will dispatch them. You needn’t do anything to help with that.”

  He turned to Lariana. “I want you to remain here, inside. This fight isn’t for you. You would distract the boy, and he doesn’t need that. What you can do is keep an eye on the rear entry, just in case one of them finds an opening and comes through behind us.”

  He handed her an arc flash, one of the newest of the new breed of handheld flash rips. She took it, studied it a moment, and looked back at him.

  “Can you use it?” he asked. “Do you know how?”

  She nodded. “But I think I should go with Reyn. He’s used to me being there when he uses the wishsong magic.”

  “That may be true, but it is also true that you cannot always be there. Especially in situations like this when you would be at as much risk as he will. So you will remain here. Are we clear?”

  “He’s right,” Reyn told her. “I would feel better knowing you are safely away from whatever’s going to happen outside.”

  She gave him a look, but nodded wordlessly. He could tell she was upset and worried, but he didn’t want her with him when he left with Arcannen. He looked back at the sorcerer. “Where are these men now?”

  Arcannen tightened his cloak about his shoulders and gave him a wink. “Let’s go find out.”

  —

  They departed the room through the heavy protective door and stepped into the hallway that led to the outside of their safehold. Arcannen took the lead, moving swiftly and confidently. No trace of concern over what might happen was evident from his face. When they reached the outer door, he extinguished the smokeless lamps at the opening and turned to Reyn.

  “I will leave this door unlocked. If things go wrong or become too dangerous for you to remain outside, come back through here. Throw the locks on this door and the one leading into my home. If I don’t appear within the hour, take Lariana and go out through the rear door. Make your way south to the village of Corrin’s Kirk. It’s no more than five miles down the coast. Don’t bother looking for me; I won’t be coming.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” Reyn said at once.

  “You will if I tell you to, and I am.” The sorcerer’s face was carved in stone. “Don’t argue with me; I am better able to make these decisions than you are. I don’t think any of this will happen, but you need to be prepared if it does.”

  “Lariana won’t leave you, either.”

  Arcannen smiled. “She will do what you ask of her, just as you will pretty much do what she asks of you. I see what’s happening between the two of you. A blind man could see. So do what I say. Go, and take care of each other afterward.”

  Reyn shook his head. “I don’t like it.”

  “You don’t need to.” Arcannen stepped over to the door, drawing the boy after him. “The weather warmed during the night, and the rains stopped. The mist is so thick you can barely see your hand in front of your face. I don’t know what we will find out there. I don’t know how many of these intruders there are or where we will encounter them. So it would be better to keep moving rather than staying in one place. We may become separated. I will try not to let that happen.”

  He paused. “Just remember. If you get in trouble and I can’t reach you, don’t panic. Use your wishsong. Do whatever you must to protect yourself. I don’t like having to ask this, but life doesn’t always give us the choices we would prefer.”

  The boy hesitated. “When this is over, will you continue to help me learn about the magic and not give up on me?”

  “Give up on you?” Arcannen laughed softly. “I never had any intention of giving up on you. Never. No matter what happens, I will be there to see you through this.”

  He gripped the boy’s arm and pulled him close. “Are you ready?”

  Reyn nodded.

  Arcannen raised the heavy crossbar and threw the locking bolts on the door leading out. A wall of heavy gray fog, thick and swirling, greeted them as they went through.

  —

  Elsewhere in the nearly impenetrable soup, Mallich was leading his hunters in their search of the ruins. He paid no attention to the wards that might be in place now, made no effort to hide their arrival. The plan was simple—find their quarry, corner it, and kill it. With the oketar doing the tracking and the crince given over to The Hammer’s care, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. Arcannen, Mallich believed, would try to escape rather than stand and fight. That effort would fail because the animals would find him wherever he went, corner him, and bring him down. Even if they couldn’t, the men would be there to finish the job. Simple enough.

  Usurient wasn’t so sure.

  He trailed the others, doing what he had promised himself he would do—hanging back to let his companions manage the killing so he would be free to clean up the mess when things were over and done with. He was far less convinced than the others about how easy this would be or what their chance of success was. The others were confident in their strength and experience as predators, but the Red Slash Commander was equally convinced of Arcannen’s uncanny ability to survive. He had seen it before, when the odds were far greater than now. The sorcerer had a gift for detecting traps and turning them back on those who set them. Usurient was not at all sure it would be any different here.

  His sole source of comfort came from the weapon he had concealed beneath his Federation army jacket—a handheld flash rip rapid-fire that could bring down an entire squad of attackers in seconds. It was the newest development in the Federation efforts to expand their military capability. He had bargained for it a few years back—by which he meant he had used blackmail and threats against a weapons developer. Not very fair of him perhaps, but very effective when you wanted something as badly as he had wanted this weapon.

  His eyes fixed for a time on the crince, watching as it slouched along on the far end of The Hammer’s chain. The beast was incredibly ugly—a huge, misshapen animal possessed of a massive body and thick, heavy limbs. Its head hung so low to the ground it seemed to be dragging. It was not intelligent; its senses were not keen. But once it locked on the prey it was sent to find, there was no stopping it. A crince would go right through a wall of spears to get its jaws on a kill. Even if damaged. Even if dying. You could stop it by dismembering it or cutting off its head, but with an animal o
f this size and ferocity coming at you, who had time for that?

  He pictured it with its jaws around Arcannen’s smug face and found momentary pleasure in the image.

  Bael Etris skittered up to him from one side—a teasing, taunting gesture—then darted away. He kept glancing at Usurient, an open promise of what he would like to do to him mirrored in his dark eyes. Usurient knew he would have to watch the other closely. If he gave the little vermin half a chance, he would find his throat slit. But he had dealt with men like Etris before, mindless killers with no discernible boundaries and no respect for authority. He knew how to keep them at bay while making use of them.

  Which wouldn’t be for all that long in this instance. Etris would be the first one he would dispose of when this was over.

  Ahead, Mallich slowed. They were at the edge of the ruins now, close to where the real search would begin. The hunter stood waiting for the others, motioning them closer before speaking.

  “We split up here. Two groups.” His voice was a whisper. “Hammer with me, Etris with Usurient. The animals go with me. Hammer and I will come in from the land side; Bael and Dallen will go in from the coast. There’s got to be ways in and out of whatever remains of the village, passageways carved into the rock. That’s where the sorcerer will be. If he doesn’t come out to meet us, we find one of those ways and go in after him. Mostly, we have to keep him in front of us. We don’t want him to slip out and get around behind us.”

  “Or escape us altogether,” Usurient added. “If he does, he will come hunting us like we hunt him.”

  “He’s already hunting you, though, isn’t he?” Bael Etris sneered.

  Usurient glared at him. “Something you’re going to put a stop to if you want to get paid.”

  “Oh, that’s right. I’m supposed to save you. I wonder why that doesn’t much interest me?”

  Mallich gave him a look. “Enough. There will be a door hidden somewhere on the coast side. If you find it, go in. Kill everyone. Don’t stop to think about it.”