Draykon (24 page)

Chapter Sixteen

'We have to get
him to an infirmary.' Tren surged to his feet, his hands and
clothes covered in Edwae's blood. He looked ready to run all the
way back to Westrarc by himself.

'Tren.' Eva
caught at his arm, restraining him lest he fly off without thought.
'Look at him. He'd never survive the trip.'

Tren looked. Poor
Edwae lay inert save for the pained heaving of his chest as he
fought to breathe. That ragged breath had stopped, started, stopped
again; his chest was laid open with the same wounds that Eva had
seen on Meesa's destroyed body. Finshay had ripped a cloak to
pieces and bandaged Edwae's chest, but nothing could halt the flow
of blood.

'We must be miles
from anywhere with a healer. We'll be lucky to move him at all
without-' She stopped. She was going to say 'without killing him,'
but Tren's face whitened so rapidly at the implication of it that
she feared for his health.

'Sit down,' she
said gently. He obeyed, numbly. Finshay was still tending to Ed,
brisk, efficient and entirely without sympathy. His ministrations
seemed to be helping, however. Eva watched as he unstoppered a
phial and placed it to Edwae's lips, forcing him to swallow the
contents. After a few minutes Ed's breathing stabilised a little,
and his contorted face eased.

'What's that?'
Tren asked, suspicious.

'Pain draught,'
said Fin. 'Strong one.'

'How
strong?'

'Strong enough to
kill a healthy person. He's got about an hour.'

'
What
?'
Tren knocked the phial out of Finshay's hands, leaned over to stare
anxiously into Ed's greying face. 'How could you just -?' He stared
at Finshay, tensed as if ready to strike him.

'Don't be an
idiot,' said Finshay brutally. 'He's going to die. Even if we could
get him straight to an infirmary, he couldn't be saved now. We need
him able to talk, get what information we can out of
him.'

'No,' whispered
Tren. 'There's time, there must be more we can do for him.
Something.'

'Like what?'
Finshay stood up, cleaning his hands. 'Forget it, Warvel. You can
do the interrogation if it's going to bother you, but get on with
it. There isn't much time.' He retired to the other side of the
clearing, lay down with his cloak under his head as a pillow, and
to all appearances went to sleep.

Tren said
nothing. He turned his face away from Finshay, his jaw clenched
tight. He picked up one of Edwae's hands and gripped it
hard.

'Ed?'

Edwae turned
unfocused eyes on him, obviously seeing nothing. Eva fetched her
notebook out of her bags and seated herself beside Tren. She handed
him her water bottle.

'He might be able
to speak if he drinks something,' she said quietly. Tren silently
took the bottle from her and fed Ed with a thin trickle of water,
patient and silent as his friend swallowed some and spilled rather
more.

'Ed,' Tren tried
again. 'Ed, you need to tell us what happened.' He gripped his
friend's fingers as Ed tried to rise, placing a gentle hand on his
chest to hold him down.

'Don't try to
move,' he said softly. 'You're badly hurt.'

'So it appears,'
said Edwae weakly. 'Somehow I don't feel anything.' He looked
vaguely down at himself, puzzled.

'You're under a
pain draught.'

Ed blinked at the
bloody bandages that swathed his torso and abdomen. 'What
happened,' he repeated. 'Right.' He eased his head back and closed
his eyes. Tren leaned over him, repeating his name with growing
urgency.

'I'm awake,' said
Ed vaguely. His eyes opened again and he focused on Eva. 'New
girlfriend?'

Tren chuckled.
'No. Lady Evastany Glostrum, High Summoner.'

'M'lady.' Edwae
frowned at her. 'Right. Seen your picture in the
papers.'

'That happens
more than I'd like,' Eva said.

'Reckon it
would,' Ed replied, with a ghost of a chuckle. 'Got any
family?'

'Not
yet.'

'You
sure?'

'Quite sure,
yes.'

Ed's eyes lost
their focus on her face and he closed them again.

'Speaking of
girlfriends, what's this I hear about yours?' Tren spoke lightly,
but Eva knew he was hurt that his friend hadn't confided in
him.

Ed's eyes opened.
'You heard about that.'

'We saw your
mother,' Tren said gently. 'She's worried about you.'

'Ah...' Ed sighed
faintly. 'You'll take care of them, Tren? They'll need you, till
the girls are grown up.'

'Don't speak of
that,' said Tren lightly. 'You'll be fine.'

'Tren. You seen
this?' He nodded slightly down at the mess of his torso.

Tren swallowed.
'I noticed it, yes.'

'Don't talk
rubbish, then. Promise me you'll make sure the girls are all
right.'

'Don't worry
about that. They'll have everything they need.'

Ed nodded. 'I
never meant to make such a mess,' he said helplessly. 'I just...
there was never enough money, the girls are growing older and they
need more all the time...'

'Someone offered
you money?'

'More of it than
I'd make in five years. All I had to do was make a small, temporary
change to the span of the Night Cloak. They promised no one would
know. I think I knew Angstrun would find out, but I couldn't say
no...'

Tren sighed. 'Who
paid you?'

'I don't know. I
only spoke to him twice, and he was always disguised, shrouded.
Never saw a face, even. Think it was a male. All I can say for
sure.'

'Damn.'

'Can't be that
many male sorcs with disguise skills on that level. Get your man
there on it.' He rolled his eyes up in the vague direction of
Finshay's recumbent form. 'Had a touch of accent, probably Orstwych
but could've been Ullarn.'

Eva wrote
quickly, recording everything Edwae said. An idea occurred to her,
and she leaned slightly forwards.

'What about the
pale-haired woman?'

Ed's eyes flicked
towards her. 'Looks like you.'

'Me?'

'Well.' He
narrowed his eyes slightly, inspecting her. 'Might just be the
hair,' he conceded.

Tren frowned.
'Ed, who is she?'

'The most
beautiful woman in the world,' he said.

Tren smiled
sadly. 'Your mother said she was a sorceress?'

'Sorceress? No,
not that.' Ed's breathing began to grow laboured again, and he
winced. 'Traitoress, though. She introduced me to her... friend.
The man without a face. How strong did you say that draught
was?'

'Pretty damn
strong.' Tren stared at his friend, alarmed. 'It hasn't even been
half an hour...'

Ed was silent for
several minutes, occupied with trying to get enough air. Eva and
Tren could only watch, helpless. At last he rallied a little
again.

'Met her at
Darklands Market,' he continued. 'Thought she liked me.'

'Didn't
she?'

'She sent the
shrouded man to me. I'd say not.'

'Ed, what is her
name?'

'Said she was
called Ana. From Orstwych, she claimed. Accent wasn't right
though.'

'You think she
was lying.'

'Seems likely.'
Ed's eyes grew sad. 'Never saw her again after the job.'

Tren shook his
head. 'Why did you run, Ed? Why didn't you tell me about this
before?'

'Couldn't stay
around, could I? I knew they'd be looking for a scapegoat.' His
breathing grew wet, stifled with blood. 'Tren, I swear. I never
knew what would come of it. I never meant for anyone to be
hurt.'

'I know, Ed. It's
okay.'

'I met him in
Orstwych after I'd done the job. Got the money. Left it with the
girls. Then I followed him. He came out here, fast, sure, like he
knew where to go. Turned out there's a regular gate here.' Edwae
was talking fast, now, sensing that he was running out of time.
'Tried to stop him going through. Obviously I failed.'

'You said he was
a sorc.'

'Right.'

'Why did he need
to find a gate? Why didn't he just open one?'

'No idea. He went
through it, though, with his entourage in tow.'

'Wait. There was
only him? Nobody else was with him?'

'Just
him.'

'He's a
sorc
, and he's dragging whurthags around with
him?'

Ed gave a tiny
shrug. 'He had a couple of them.'

'And they were
obeying him?'

'Just about.
Barely.' Ed was gasping for breath again, gritting his teeth. 'I
wanted to stop him, make up for what I did. I failed.'

'We'll find him.'
Tren spoke firmly, confidently. 'One way or another, we'll make
sure that it ends.'

Ed sighed, his
distress easing. 'Should've told you before.'

'That's true
enough.'

'I'm sorry. You
were always the... one the girls liked. I didn't dare tell you
about Ana. I thought she'd ditch me in a second if she saw you. I
was a fool.'

Tren tried to
smile, but his face wouldn't obey him. A sob emerged from his
throat as Ed's eyes closed again, the harsh sound of his breathing
fading into silence.

They waited, but
he did not rally again. Still Tren would not move, maintaining his
station by his friend, still clutching those cold fingers in his
own. Eva waited with him for a long time, but at last she moved
quietly away, leaving Tren alone with Ed's remains.

She felt almost
as much pain as he did, watching him grieve. It brought the memory
of Meesa's death back to her mind with too much clarity, and she
mourned anew for both her friend and his.

At last, Tren
moved, stiffly after his long, motionless vigil. He wandered
aimlessly about the clearing, dazed, his face drawn and stained
with drying tears. Eva watched him silently, unable to determine
how to comfort him. Finally he wandered in her direction, slumping
down by her.

'Cold bastard,'
he muttered, indicating Finshay. Vale's agent remained oblivious,
though he was obviously awake. He was reading from a tatty volume,
head propped casually on one folded arm.

Eva shrugged.
'It's his job to be, I suppose.'

Tren muttered
something inaudible. He lay silent for some time, watching Eva. She
returned to the perusal of her notes, tidying and arranging her
comments, letting Tren pursue his own thoughts.

'Got everything?'
he said at last.

She nodded. 'I
believe so. I'm making copies now, for you and Mr.
Arrerly.'

'How
efficient.'

She smiled sadly.
'It's necessary.'

'I suppose it
is.'

'Tren, I'm so
sorry.'

He nodded. 'I
don't know what to do, now.' His customary cheerfulness was gone;
he sounded helpless and frightened. 'His mother needs to be told,
Vale will want a report immediately and your notes must be handed
over. But...'

'But?'

'But I don't want
to do any of that. I want to take up Ed's pursuit.'

Eva shifted,
feeling a sense of foreboding. 'Into the Lowers?'

'Yes.'

'Alone?'

'Yes. If
necessary.'

'Tren, Ed's
flight was... ill-considered. Had he had help, he might be alive
now. It won't help him for you to follow his example and get
yourself hurt, too.'

'He should have
told me. I could have been with him; between us we might have fared
better.'

'Might
have.'

Tren sighed
deeply. 'If we wait to go all the way back to Glour, convince Vale
of the truth of Ed's story - because after all he is still the main
suspect - and then return with 'help', whoever Ed was chasing will
be long gone. I want to take it up
now
.'

'Tren
-'

'I know, it's
crazy.'

She watched him
warily, trying to gauge his seriousness from his expression. She
couldn't read him.

'You can't go
alone.'

'As far as I am
concerned, I don't have a choice.'

'Have you ever
been there before?'

'Once or twice,
in school. Never for very long. But I can manage.'

'Tren, you can't
go alone. Really. Please reconsider this idea.'

'I can't. What
else do we have to go on? Even Ed couldn't tell us much. There are
no other good leads. It ends here, and unless I take up Ed's
pursuit, it's over now. How can I turn away from that? How many
other people will die if I don't
do
something?'

Eva was silent.
His words spoke to her heart, even if her mind rebelled from the
idea. Thinking of Meesa, she could understand his
urgency.