Gates of the Dead

by James A. Moore

  “Hurts,” he said as he looked at his fingertips.

  Darwa nodded. “I have warded this vessel against demons. You are a demon, or a servant of one.”

  Brogan frowned, but before he could say anything, Anna broke away from the deep and passionate kiss she was giving her husband to take in a breath and speak in Galean to the other woman. Whatever she was saying, Roskell Turn agreed and nodded to prove it.

  “Enough.” Darwa shook her head. “I have warded this boat for a reason. Neither the gods nor the demons of the world need travel with us on this mission.”

  Faceless looked at her, expressionlessly.

  Brogan ground his teeth together and said nothing. The situation was very simple, really. The witch was the only chance they had of getting where they needed to go. Faceless was a demon? That was merely confirmation in his eyes. He had expected as much all along. What else could the thing be? It certainly was not a god. At least he did not think it was a god. The only ones he’d seen were much larger.

  “They say this creature has helped you and kept you alive, Brogan McTyre. Is that the truth of it in your eyes?”

  He nodded once. “Faceless has defended me several times, including from the He-Kisshi.”

  Darwa’s expression changed as she looked at Faceless. She grew sterner still and her eye twitched as if she had just smelled a dead skunk. “Come aboard. Know this. If you do anything I do not like, I will revoke my protection from the wards and you will burn.”

  Faceless looked on for several seconds and finally reached out to the air again. Brogan could see the scorch marks on the creature’s hand. This time when it touched the air nothing happened.

  Faceless climbed aboard and said, “I believe you.”

  “Then you are wise,” she spat.

  A moment later the boat lurched forward at a higher speed than Brogan would have thought possible. He held on tightly and so did the rest. Faceless staggered and barely caught himself from falling into the waters.

  Anna and Desmond folded over on each other and settled in a spot where they could hold themselves and simply be together. Brogan looked away. He saw Harper watching him. Harper said nothing. That was, perhaps, for the best.

  Bump made noise. It was what the man did when he was around other people. He laughed, and he talked and he told tales of what they had been through and Brogan listened, though he said nothing.

  They traveled to the north. The boat made a deep wake as it rode along, and Brogan faced the direction they traveled, looking at the distant lashes of lightning that marked his destination.

  He could not say how far away they were, only that he could now see the light from the Gateway.

  Darwa said, “You should prepare yourselves. The Undying will certainly strike before we can reach the Gateway.”

  Brogan nodded. He’d been thinking about the He-Kisshi and how to handle the situation. This was not the sort of thing he wanted to deal with. This was not the sort of combat he wanted. He wanted to fight and kill the gods and everything else seemed like a distraction.

  Harper looked at the Galean and asked, “Will poisons hurt the damned things?”

  “Some might. They can heal from most anything but poisons might work. If they are the right sorts.”

  “I’ve serpent-tongue, red hendrique and firewort.”

  “Firewort. The other two might slow them, but firewort will kill nearly anything that ever walked the lands.”

  Harper nodded.

  “Of course it won’t keep them dead, and if they see the arrow coming they can bend it on the air and send it back.”

  Harper nodded again and considered his options silently.

  All around him the people on the boat prepared themselves. There were two exceptions: Desmond and Anna spoke to each other softly with worried expressions, and Jahda spoke with the woman from his land, the two of them having a serious debate if he could judge by their frowns.

  “I thought you’d warded this boat from demons.” Bump said the words even as he sharpened one of his long daggers.

  Darwa shook her head. “They’re not demons. I can’t ward against them. I’ve tried several times in the past.”

  “Well then, what good are you?” The woman turned her head sharply to glare at Bump and he laughed. After a moment her expression softened into a smile. Brogan shook his head. Bump often seemed to push for his own death. How he was still alive was one of the universe’s great mysteries in Brogan’s eyes.

  The winds picked up again and Darwa moved her hands, spoke softly, and then nodded in satisfaction as the direction of the winds bent to her will.

  “I can warn when they get closer, if they are not trying to hide themselves.” She reached into a bag around her waist and fished out a blackened something that she promptly put into her mouth and started chewing.

  Brogan looked away.

  They’d come soon. He would do his best to be ready. There was no choice in the matter.

  Enemies that would not die added to his troubles heavily.

  “How is it that they are undying?” He looked toward Darwa as he asked the question.

  “It is by the decree of the gods. They can do anything, Brogan McTyre. They are gods.”

  He nodded his head. “Your books of Galea say nothing about them?”

  “Only that the He-Kisshi are the voice of the gods. They are the ‘Divine Collectors,’ meaning they gather the sacrifices and decide who is to be taken. They make decisions for the gods and speak for them in many matters. They can only be killed by the gods themselves, and that will not happen.”

  Once again Brogan’s jaw clenched as he considered the Undying.

  “Do you suppose it hurt them when I killed one of their kind? Truly killed?”

  Darwa didn’t even bother looking in his direction. “I know it did. You helped kill a god and one of the He-Kisshi. You have enraged them and wounded them deeply. That is why the rules have changed, Brogan. That is why they no longer care if you are sacrificed.”

  She gestured to the west where the land was gone.

  “They are erasing the world. At least this part of it. Most of the cities are gone. The kingdoms of man have fallen. If there are people still alive in the land, it is something they will soon settle.”

  “How?”

  “You still do not understand, Brogan.” Darwa turned her head to face him completely and her eyes locked on his. “They are gods. There are some things they will not do, but there is little that they cannot do. They have summoned the Hahluritiedes. Galea says that these creatures are what is left of previous gods. They were stripped of their will, their minds, and made into servants. They shaped the lands around the world and created all life as you have seen it. The Hahluritiedes created man, and made horses as they are. They lifted mountains into the air and cut rivers across the world. They are the makers of all that you have ever seen.”

  She shook her head. “They are the source of all that has made this world.”

  “Are they?”

  Something about the way he asked that question caught Darwa’s attention. “What are you thinking?”

  “If they made the world, if they will unmake it, then what can’t they do?”

  “They can’t think for themselves. They have no minds. They cannot act without being ordered.”

  “Yet you say the gods have all the power.”

  “The Hahluritiedes were gods once. They are all that is left of the gods who survived the last change of power.” She shrugged. “You have seen for yourself that gods are hard to kill. They still have power that can be used by the gods.”

  Brogan nodded and longed for a place where he could sit and contemplate the creatures that were remaking the world.

  Wishes seldom come true.

  Darwa looked to the skies and sighed. “The He-Kisshi are coming for you, Brogan. For all of us.”

  Brogan nodded his head and stared at the waters around them. “La
nd would be better.”

  Darwa nodded in response. “I can do nothing about that.”

  Jahda sighed and then called out, “I might be able to help.”

  The girl, Daivem, shook her head. “No. It can’t be done without hurting yourself and you know it.”

  “It can. If you help me.”

  Darwa scowled. “If you are going to do something, do it soon. They are coming fast and they will use the waters to kill us all.”

  “It would be easier to shed this world.” Daivem spoke and Brogan heard her, but he had no idea what it was she spoke of.

  Jahda shrugged. “Just the same.”

  The two of them stood and whatever it was they did, the world went mad.

  Chapter Twenty

  Destinations

  Daivem

  Jahda asked much. He wanted her to use the dead to save the world. She had no notion if that was possible, but after a long discussion she conceded that there might be something to his plans.

  That was one thing. It was another to consider what else the man wanted.

  The Shimmer was not a gift given lightly. It cost effort and it risked the chance that the power behind the Shimmering Path might well reject them and cast aside the abilities they had been granted. That was a real risk and more than one of the Louron had been lost along the way.

  And now he wanted to move the entire boat.

  Of course he was right, but that did not make her happy.

  Of course she helped. That was her place in this. She had been told to come to the man and listen to his wisdom.

  The Shimmering Path was always there. Opening the way to it was the challenge. She offered her help, but let Jahda determine the course.

  In moments the air before them rippled and then split.

  There was no warning for the others. There was no time and it was a relatively short jaunt.

  The boat shuddered and the people on it stumbled, all save Jahda, Daivem, and the demon-thing they called Faceless.

  Several of the people on the vessel made exclamations and two actually asked the gods for help. Daivem suspected those prayers would go unanswered.

  The world around them shifted, stretched, changed.

  Jahda led the way, pushing the Shimmer to aid him, asking, demanding, begging and cajoling. Once again the power that had helped the Louron on many occasions worked to their benefit.

  It was only a few minutes to reach land. During that time the others on the boat cried out or held themselves and each other. A few of the people on the boat looked ready to vomit, but none did.

  Brogan McTyre looked on, seeming unaffected. He had been altered by contact with the divine, she understood that, but it seemed that he was changed more than she would have expected.

  Then they stopped, the front of the boat rapidly pushing into a rough shoreline. The wood scraped, and the whole of the vessel halted, leaving those standing with little choice but to move a few paces or fall down. Some did fall just the same. There was only so much room.

  Darwa, the Galean who had rescued them from an island of ice, climbed out of the vessel with confident steps and called over her shoulder, “Move fast. They’re coming and they will be here soon.”

  “Who?” The man who spoke meant nothing to Daivem. His face was unfamiliar.

  Darwa turned her head sharply. “Have you heard nothing? The He-Kisshi. The Undying come to end us all. Be fast with gathering your thoughts and your weapons. We live or die by them now.”

  The man nodded and pulled a harpoon from under his cloak. The tip was all she’d seen previously. The rest had been hidden beneath his furs.

  The He-Kisshi came. They would kill anyone who stayed. She thought very seriously about stepping into the Shimmer until it was all taken care of.

  They waited perhaps fifteen minutes and then Darwa called out that the Undying were approaching.

  The creatures came swiftly, looking like vast birds, wings outstretched and holding on the wind.

  The creatures, ten by Daivem’s count, dropped like a murder of crows and landed in a circle around the area, none of them close by. They did not need to be any closer from all that she had heard.

  Darwa and the woman who’d nearly tackled her man moved together and Roskell Turn joined them. Three people who studied the Galean books. She had no idea what they could do against the He-Kisshi.

  One of the hooded forms took three steps closer. “Galeans. By tradition you are respected by the gods. They have long honored Galea and her followers, seldom choosing from yours as sacrifices. Why would you place yourselves with Brogan McTyre?”

  “You are ending the world.” Roskell Turn spoke softly. “What choice if we would live?”

  “If you leave here now, you will be spared what is about to happen.”

  Three of the small gathering of humans nocked arrows and drew back their bows. They did not wait for a signal, but loosed their weapons in fast succession. The first arrow was deflected with a gust of wind, but two others found their targets. One left an Undying hissing in fury. The other was a different tale.

  The He-Kisshi growled low in its chest and reached for the shaft that pierced it. Before its claw wrapped around the protruding arrow, it stopped and staggered backward. The growl became a shriek and the thing fell back, stumbling until it collapsed on the ground.

  All of the He-Kisshi turned to stare as one of their own fell and then thrashed, the motions not coordinated in any way. The thing screamed and twisted, its feet clutching at the air, his hands clawing at the frozen soil.

  “Ellish-Loa. What befalls you?” One of the others moved forward and then stopped as an archer let loose another bolt. The creature moved with unsettling speed and dodged the missile. It gestured with a hand and the archer was knocked back by a wind strong enough to throw the man nearly twenty feet. He hit the ground hard and rolled several times before coming to a halt.

  There was no horn sounded, but there may as well have been. The attack came fast after that.

  The loudmouth called Bump drew two long blades and ducked backward, fading into the night. The darkness was nearly complete and he vanished from her view. Whether or not the Undying could see better was not something Daivem knew.

  The archers took aim again and started their attacks. There were more than she’d expected. Seven arrows sought flesh and found it. As had happened before, one of the He-Kisshi fell screaming to the ground and did not rise. She had no idea which of the archers was using poison, but could think of no other reason for the creature to fall so suddenly.

  One of the things turned and opened its taloned hands. A moment later fire arched through the air and caught Roskell Turn even as he was gesturing at the very same beast. Whatever he had planned, it was too late. The He-Kisshi was faster. Roskell let out a scream as the fire ate the clothing on his chest and arm and boiled the flesh on his face. He tried to cry out once more, but inhaled only fire.

  The Galean could not escape the flames. In moments he was dead, his body lighting the area.

  By that time Brogan McTyre had attacked the closest of the creatures, and they were engaged in a hard battle. It might be that the He-Kisshi could control the elements but it also seemed likely they had to concentrate to do it. From a distance they were at an advantage but the Godslayer was using an axe large enough to cut a man in half and he was apparently skilled at it. The blades hacked into furred flesh and the creature retreated, doing its best to block a flurry of slashes.

  Not far away the first of the things that had been poisoned twitched violently and started to rise, but did not get far. The man with the harpoon drove the weapon through its opened mouth and out the back of its head, pinning the creature in place. He did not stay around to see if it was properly dead, but moved on, taking a club from his belt.

  The creature that fell on him drove the man to his knees and started clawing meat from his chest and shoulders. The man did not last long.

  D
arwa flung a black dust from her hands and the dust glowed a sickly green as it covered one of the Undying. The creature did not so much as utter a sound before it fell to the ground, stiff as a tree stump. A low keening noise came from the He-Kisshi as the unearthly glow grew brighter. In moments it stopped breathing and collapsed on itself.

  The battle raged on and Jahda moved closer to her.

  “You should get away from here. What you carry is precious.”

  She shook her head. Part of her felt the same way, but she wanted to witness the battle. Her curiosity about the Undying was a potent thing.

  Roskell Turn’s spirit rose from the ashes of his body and without even thinking about the situation, Daivem stepped closer and took the spirit into her grasp. “I think I’ll need you.”

  She felt no regret, no loss over his death. They had met only briefly and she had not been nearly as interested in him as he in her.

  No spirit rose from the dead or dying He-Kisshi. She expected as much. The essence of the creature stayed with the flesh, the better to ensure a return to life.

  One of the hellish beasts struck the ground and a tremor shook the earth beneath them. A moment later the rocky soil split and heaved itself in two separate directions. The He-Kisshi were unaffected, but everyone else staggered and three of the men – islanders and members of the ship’s crew, she was certain – were swallowed by the ground before it abruptly snapped shut.

  The math was simple. There were only a dozen men left and four of the Undying were wounded or dead, but that wouldn’t matter when they came back from the end of their lives. The He-Kisshi had the advantage. Even those who had fallen to poison were already recovering. They were in pain, to be sure, and in one case the thing let out a scream and died again, but they were recovering. In time the people would die to the divine. That was almost always the way.

  When the horns sounded, all of the people in the fight – Undying included – looked to the west and saw the coming army.