The Knight Marshal (The Silk & Steel Saga) (4 page)

3

Katherine

Kath startled awake, her hand reaching for her sword.
Give
it to us
...the spectral voice slithered through in her mind, a memory and a
threat. “
No!”
The shout rose unbidden to her lips. Unsheathing her
sword, she stared at the shadows. A feral fear clung to her, planting a deep
seeded dread. Like so many nights before, she woke plagued by nightmares…but
this felt different, this was a memory. Her heart pounding, she clutched her
gargoyle, relieved to find it on the leather thong around her neck. Duncan’s warrior ring was there as well, but what of the other? Grabbing her clothes
puddled on the floor, she ransacked the pockets, turning them inside out,
nothing!

Perhaps it had fallen out.

She clung to the slender hope. In
the dim light, she knelt, frantically running her hands across the cold marble
floor, praying to find it.
Nothing!
Worse yet, she could not feel it.

Closing her eyes, she took deep
calming breathes, straining to sense the magical bond…but her efforts were for
naught, as if the link was severed. The stink of her own fear filled her
nostrils. Quelling her panic, Kath tried to remember the last time she’d held
it. She remembered sheathing her sword and reaching for the amber pyramid…
in
the cavern of nightmares!
Fear spiked through her. She couldn’t have lost
it there! Memories of the demons’ grasping hands shredded her denial.
A
chilling thought seized her. Zith had warned her countless times that the
Quickner could not fall into the hands of Darkness…and now she’d lost it…in the
worst possible place. Her dread fought a tug-of-war with a desperate hope.
Perhaps she could get it back. Shoving her stockinged feet into her boots, she
hastily dressed. Grabbing her throwing axes, she crossed the marble hallway to
bang on the nearest door. “Wake up! I need you!” Her fist beat against the
door.

Bear was quick to answer. Clad in
fighting leathers, weapons studded his belt. “Svala?”

Sometimes she wondered if he slept
with his sword. “Wake Boar and get Blaine.”

A moment later, Boar emerged, his
great axe in his hand. Nodding towards her, he jogged down the hallway to the
Mordant’s opulent chambers. When they’d first explored the palace, Kath had
shunned the Mordant’s chambers, repulsed by the thought of sleeping in the
enemy’s bed, but Blaine had leaped at the chance. The knight claimed the honor,
reveling in the obscene decadence. He’d fought like a hero, so she could not
gainsay him the indulgence, but she did not want it for herself.

“Svala?” Bear waited patiently at
her side. “What do you need?”

“To return to the bloody cavern.”

Bear raised a bushy eyebrow in
shock, or perhaps protest, but he said nothing.

The other two men came jogging down
the hallway, a jangle of weapons and chainmail. Blaine looked sleep-fogged,
cracking a large yawn. “What’s so urgent?”

“I can’t find the Quickner.”

He stared at her. “But the monk
said…”

Dismay rode her voice. “I know.”

“Where?”

“It has to be in the bloody
cavern…or on the steps to below.”

Blaine gave her a chilling look.
“You really want to go back down there?”

“No…but I need to find it. I need
to get it back.”

He gave her a grim nod. “Lead the
way.”

Kath turned and led the three men
toward the outer doors of the palace. Braziers lit the hallways. A painted
warrior stood guard in the cavernous entranceway, leaning on a spear. At a nod
from Kath, the guard put his shoulder to the great gold-clad door and shoved.
Cold seeped inside, a deadly chill.

Kath slipped through the narrow
opening, stepping from warmth into winter. A bitter wind howled out of the north,
cold enough to freeze bone. Hugging her maroon cloak close, she ran across the
great rune-carved courtyard, her long blonde hair whipping behind like a battle
banner. She dreaded returning to below, but she needed to reclaim the Quickner.
A sickle moon hung low in the night sky, grinning among the stars as if mocking
her loss. Ahead, the great dark monolith thrust up from the heart of the
courtyard like a monstrous tombstone. A cleft in the stone gave entrance to the
netherworld. Muttering a quick prayer to Valin, Kath darted through the cleft
and then skidded to a sudden halt, teetering on the top step.
Darkness
gaped below, pitch black and impenetrable.

The torches had gone out…and no one
dared relight them.

Retreating a step, Kath bumped into
Blaine. “The torches are out.” It seemed like an ill-omen…or a threat. The
darkness felt alive, a brooding menace lurking below. “We can’t go down there
without light.”

Bear said, “I’ll get a torch.”

They waited on the top step, caught
between darkness and a killing cold. The wind howled outside like a beast
denied.

Bear returned, torchlight dancing
across the dark stone.

Kath wrested an unlit torch from
the nearest bracket, holding it to Bear’s till hers ignited. The torch sizzled
and hissed as if protesting the blaze, but the fire took hold. Blaine and Boar both did the same, multiplying the light. The four torches carved a slender
niche from the ominous dark.

Poised on the top step, Kath stared
down the dark gullet, assaulted by painful memories.
Duncan
!
Pushing
her nightmares aside, she strained to feel the Quickner…but felt nothing.
Resigned, she started down the long stairs, torchlight shimmering behind her.
Crouching low, Kath checked every step. Sweeping her torch back and forth, she
prayed to find it, prayed to be spared the horror below.
A chilling darkness choked around her, as if it might
snuff all hope.
The rough-carved stairs spiraled down, descending into
the depths of hell. A cold sweat sheened her face, yet she refused to turn
back. Down and around, they descended a thousand steps into the gaping
darkness. No one spoke, nothing but the clink of arms and armor. 

A horrible stench rose from below,
the putrid smell of death.

“It must be the guards.” Kath kept
her voice to a hushed whisper.

They reached the bottom, a
rock-hewn antechamber dominated by the great copper door. Two guards lay
crumpled on the floor, both bloated with rot, the source of the stench. Kath
fixed her gaze on the door. Green with age and covered in runes, the great
round door stood open like a portal gaping to hell. Beyond the doorway, the
cavern was utterly dark.

Behind her, Boar whispered, “It’s a
trap.”

“Perhaps, but we have to find the
Quickner.” Murmuring a fervent prayer to Valin, Kath stepped across the
threshold. The air smelled foul, brimstone mingled with a rotting stench. Her
torch flickered feeble against the devouring darkness. Every sense screamed at
Kath to flee, but she refused to retreat. Sweeping the torch low to the ground,
she crept forward, straining to feel the amber focus. Darkness swallowed the
light, a malevolent weight pressing down. The hairs prickled on the back of her
neck. Sensing a threat, she whirled right and then left, straining to see. Her
boot struck something, making a loud clatter. She winced at the sound. Broken
stalactites littered the floor, the stone javelins of an angry god.

“Who dares the Darkness?”

Kath’s heartbeat leaped at the
spectral voice.

The chamber awoke.

Five braziers erupted in red
flames, sparks shooting towards the ceiling. Shadows slithered overhead,
weaving amongst the blood-red stalactites. Smoke billowed from the braziers,
mingling with the shadows, giving them substance.

Impaled by nightmares, Kath froze.

Behind her, Bear whispered.
“Svala!”

Kath drew her sword, needing the
feel of cold steel. Averting her gaze from the menacing shadows, she crept
forward, desperate to find the Quickner. Keeping her torch low, she threaded a
path around the shattered stalactites, her doeskin boots whispering against the
cold marble. A golden pentacle gleamed at the chamber’s cruel heart…and
embedded in the floor, the shattered chains that had held Duncan.
Duncan
!
Blood encrusted the chains.
His
blood. Pierced by the memory
of his pain, Kath bit her lip, struggling to force the grim thoughts away.
Clutching her sword, she stretched her senses, determined to find the small
amber focus.

Dark forms slithered overhead.

“Who dares the Darkness?”

Kath’s gaze was drawn aloft.

Smoke and shadow coalesced. From
the swirling darkness, details appeared taking the form of a horned demon.
Hooked claws, curled teeth…and glowing red eyes that pulsed with a malevolent
hatred, a massive demon reared overhead.

Kath gripped her sword, her heart
thundering. The demon seemed real…much more real than last time, as if the
shadows had grown stronger. A forked tail lashed towards her. Kath leaped
aside. Puzzled by the demon’s solid substance, she stared it, trying to pierce
the riddle of its strength…and then she felt the Quickner! The realization
stunned her like the fatal jab of a spear.

The demon flashed a fang-filled
mouth.
“Knight of the Octagon
...
we see you
…
we curse you
…
we
mark your soul as ours!”

Blaine unsheathed his great blue
sword. “Go to hell!” Striding forward, he struck a killing blow at the demon’s
heart…but the fiend split itself in half. Seeping away from the blue blade, it
dissolved back into smoke. The dark cloud billowed, retreating deeper into the
cavern. Clawed hands and glowing red eyes reappeared. The shadow-demon reformed
into a taunting menace.
“Your steel can no longer harm me!”

Kath stretched her hand aloft,
straining to summon the Quickner…but it no longer answered her call. “Cut its
right hand off!”

Blue steel lashed out, slicing
through the demon’s right wrist. Arm and hand dissolved into inky smoke,
flinching away from the sapphire blade…but somehow the demon kept the Quickner!
The focus hovered overhead, captured by shadow. Kath could feel it but she
could not reach it.

Mocking laughter rippled through
the cavern. “
Body and soul, you shall be ours, a knight of Darkness, bound
for all eternity!”

“Never!” Blaine advanced, swinging
his sword in a deadly arc…but Kath sensed it was futile. Swords alone would not
slay the demon, not as long as it held the Quickner…yet the fiend toyed with
them, tempting them deeper into the cavern, as if it had some purpose.
Understanding struck. She threw a harried glance backwards and saw the great
copper door begin to swing shut.

“The door!”

Boar was closest. He hurled his
battle axe and it lodged in the frame, holding the door ajar.

“Retreat!”
Kath sprinted for
the door.

Boar reached it first, his muscles
straining to hold it open.

“No!”
The demon’s voice
roared through the cavern. “
You shall not leave!”
The cavern floor began
to heave and shake.

Kath tripped and fell hard, tasting
blood in her mouth. Bear grabbed her arm. Yanking her to her feet, he pushed
her towards the door. She cast a glance backwards, watching as Blaine struck at the demon. “
Blaine
, run!”
She yelled for the knight, but Bear
forced her forward. “Get out, Svala!”

Stalactites speared down,
shattering into deadly shards.

Kath dodged a stone spear, running
for the door. A stone chip struck her cheek drawing blood. The floor lurched
beneath her boots, trying to trip her. She staggered left, leaping over a
fallen stalactite. Reaching the door, she turned and saw Blaine retreating in
front of the demon, holding the fiend at bay. “
Run!”
She ducked beneath
Boar’s straining arms and tumbled into the antechamber. Bear squeezed through
behind her. Turning, he stood between her and the door, a sword in one hand, a
torch in the other. Kath reclaimed her dropped torch and stood beside him, her
heartbeat hammering.
“Hurry!”

The ground quaked, as if the earth
yearned to swallow them.

Blaine appeared, squeezing through
the narrow opening, his sword and torch clattering to the stone floor. For half
a heartbeat he was stuck, half in, half out. Fear spasmed across his face…and
then something yanked him back.

“
Blaine
!”

A single gauntleted hand gripped
the door frame.

Bear’s sword and torch clattered to
the floor. Grabbing the knight, he strained to pull him into the antechamber.

Boar bellowed. “
Hurry!”

With a mighty heave, Bear pulled
the knight through the narrow opening. Both men clattered onto the cold hard
floor.

Boar released the door. Yanking on
his battle axe, he leaped away. The great axe came loose…and the copper door
snapped shut.

The companions stared at each
other, relief warring with a primal fear, but then the ground shook with
renewed violence, rock dust falling from above.

“
Run!”
Kath leaped for the
stairs, taking them two at a time. The others came behind, torchlight darting
across dark stone. Beneath her boots, the stairs shuddered and shook like an
angry dragon. Twice Kath fell to her knees, landing hard. Ignoring the pain,
she continued to climb…and then her torch went out, as if snuffed by Darkness.
She flung it aside. Placing one hand on the rough-hewn wall as a guide, she
raced up the stairs. Two more torches snuffed to smoke, she felt the Darkness
reaching for them. Kath quickened her pace. Ignoring the pain daggering her
side, she scurried up the winding stairs. Fear breathed at her back. A single
torch against the malevolent darkness, she felt the menace closing around
them…and then a biting cold stung her face. Winter-cold air poured through the
cleft, a breath of fresh air. Kath reached the top and stumbled out into the
biting wind. Dawn broke across the sky, a single crack of light banishing the
darkness.