Tivi's Dagger (13 page)

Lana gave Brin a strange look before turning
to address us all. “Turning back is not an option for any of us.
Earlier, Brindar and I crossed paths once more with that woman who
was staying at the inn back in Kalati, who travelled with that
monstrous hound. She took the tunnel without a blink, but before
entering she told us a worrying tale. We are being followed.”

Brin’s expression was unreadable. He turned
from us and strolled outside, hands thrust in his pockets almost
nonchalantly, leaving us staring open-mouthed at his back and then
the swinging door.

Lana went on. “Our pursuers arrived in
Kalati after we had left, prepared to slip coins into pockets to
learn if some traders from Lis had come that way. Thankfully these
people are a suspicious lot, and feigned ignorance. Our warrior
friend thought nothing of it and her warning was an afterthought,
after she had cast mirthful aspersions upon our ability to pass
through the caverns of Khar Tam. All she was able to tell us was
that they wore cloaks which cast their faces in shadow, and their
accents betrayed them as natives of Lis.”

“
By the Thirteen!” Kel lamented
loudly. “As if the dangers ahead are not enough, our enemies are
now lining up at our behinds!”

I snorted with laughter and quickly turned
it into a cough. Lana shrugged. “Brindar seems strangely
unperturbed, so it may be nothing. They may be simply couriers,
hired to deliver us some news. In my experience, it is best not to
let the imagination have free reign.”

“
Or they may be assassins, waiting to
slit our throats as we sleep!” Kel’s imagination was certainly
running rampant and he stared fearfully at the door as if he
expected a band of cloaked mercenaries to break through it at any
second, swords in hand.

“
Any assassin worth their salt would
surely have tracked us to this hut and finished their business by
now.” Lana concluded her meal by sucking on the spoon. “It’s my
mind that they’ve taken the tunnel already, and will be waiting for
us in the next village.”

Brin returned, brushing oats from his hands,
and went to his room without a word. I was somewhat comforted by
the fact that my brother did not appear unduly worried about the
news of our pursuers. In fact, he appeared to be in a better mood
than before and I puzzled over the reason for his apparent
nonchalance as we took our places on the floor, ready to sleep. My
skin was beginning to prickle with the heat of the sun it had been
exposed to previously, and I recalled the glorious events of the
afternoon with a smile in the dark.

Kari took my hand under the blankets and I
turned to look at him once more. His eyes were closed already and
there was a faint smile on his lips. Obviously his memory had
returned him to the lake as mine had, and we drifted off to
sleep.

***

We awoke in the middle of the night to the
faint glow of the dying fire in the grate, disoriented and fearful
at the sound of a terrible banging and scratching at the door. It
sounded as if a beast was trying to claw the door from its very
hinges. Faint moonlight shone through the window. I sat up,
instantly alert, as my brother stomped into the room.

“
What’s that infernal noise?” he
bellowed, sword in hand.

Lana was already on her feet, and I heard
the metal click of her belt as she fastened her daggers by her
side. “Do not open that door, Brindar!”

Kari clutched at me in the dark and I could
hear his breath quicken with fear.

“
I’m going out the back way,” Lana
said. “Whatever it is, it will surely destroy the hut to get to us
by the sounds of it. I will lead the thing away.”

“
You will surely die, Lana!” Kel
cried, wringing his hands. “If it is indeed a Night Walker,
remember that they cannot be killed unless the bones are scattered
far and wide!”

Lana patted her daggers. “It may not die but
it will not walk without legs.”

The door was rattling viciously in its
frame. A desperate howling emitted from the creature outside, and I
was seized with panic. Were there others nearby which would be
alerted by such a cry? I could not let my brother and my best
friend face such a terror alone. From somewhere deep inside, I
found a kernel of courage. Pulling on my cloak, I followed through
the back door, which creaked disagreeably as we tried to exit as
quietly as possible.

The mountain air was chilly and our breath
formed tiny clouds as we crept around the hut to lay eyes upon
whatever was making the terrible noise. Just for a moment the
clouds swept aside and illuminated the forest with moonlight. I
stifled a moan of terror and disbelief as I laid eyes upon the
gaping hole in the earth that had once held the body of the
Keeper.

“
What evil is this?” muttered my
brother, but the dead tone in his voice suggested that he already
knew the answer.

When we rounded the corner to face our foe,
we saw that it was not one of the creatures, but two. The
dismembered corpse of the Keeper howled to the sky and raked the
door once more with clawed hands. The stench of them was almost
overpowering and their eyes seemed illuminated from within by a
terrible light.

Their faces were writhing with maggots and
the dirt of the grave.

Faces which were slowly turning to us.

With whining breaths that made the hair at
my neck rise, they fixed their unholy eyes upon us and began to
move.

“
By the Gods,” Brin muttered, grabbing
Lana’s arm and backing off into the woods.

“
Are you insane, brother?” I
whispered. “There may be more among the trees!”

Nonetheless, I followed them, keeping the
creatures in my vision as they continued to move toward us, rasping
and clawing at the air. They were mercifully slow but their legs
were thick, and I knew then that Lana’s daggers were not sharp
enough to cleave such limbs from the bodies. Even my brother’s
sword was surely too blunt for the task, for it had been many years
since he had seen proper battle.

“
We may be doomed,” Lana whispered,
drawing her daggers, “but I’ll not go down easily.”

“
If we could lead them around until
sunrise…” Brin muttered, but as the creatures gained momentum I
knew that that idea too was a lost cause.

“
Where is your armor, Brin?” I
whispered.

“
Beside my bed. But I fear it will be
of no use.”

“
I have an idea.”

Something Kel had told me previously sparked
a crazed plan in my mind. I sprinted away from Brin and Lana,
causing the creatures to stop in their tracks for a moment, unsure
of whom to pursue. My heart was thumping and my mind had
miraculously come alive. I burst through the back door and into my
brother’s room to grab a piece of his armor, which I knew would be
the only truly shiny surface around.

So overcome by my own cleverness, I held it
up to Kari and Kel on my way past with a half-crazed laugh. “Watch
this!” I cried, rushing back outside into the darkness. The cold
mountain air filled my lungs and for a second I felt invincible and
more alive than ever.

Just show the creatures their own faces, and
we would be saved!

Bellowing loudly and waving my arms, I
attracted the attention of the Night Walkers, who turned and began
to shuffle toward me, clawed hands outstretched. I held the
breastplate out toward them. They did not stop their advance and
gained speed. In growing dismay and horror, I gazed helplessly at
the sky as providence turned its back upon me. Clouds were
gathering once again in front of the moon, and I almost wept with
frustration as I realized there was not enough light to cast a
clear reflection.

The Night Walkers began to run and I heard
my brother call my name and unsheathe his sword. But it was too
late. The creatures were upon me. I recoiled at the stench of
rotting flesh. Recklessly, I held my ground. Their clawed hands
stretched out, towards my belly, and their slavering mouths were
dark holes in their faces.

Desperation lent me memory and I focused my
mind upon the fire in the grate, hoping it still held flame.
Holding out one hand and the breastplate in the other, I bellowed
the Words of Summoning I thought I’d forgotten. Fire flickered in
my palm then bloomed brightly upwards. The reflection from Brin’s
shiny breastplate cast the glow onto the wretched dead and I felt,
rather than heard, the unearthly howls as the fragments of their
souls screamed back to paradise, doubtless filled with horror at
the sight of what they had become.

The bodies collapsed onto the ground,
lifeless.

I beat the fire out against my cloak, elated
and terrified all at the same time. Lana leapt at me and smothered
me in a hug. “Ned, you were marvelous! We owe you our lives.”

And from behind I was crushed once more by
the hugs of Kari and Kel. All of them showered praise upon me,
which would have been wonderful to hear had it not been for the
agony now blossoming on my blistering palm. I fixed a grin on my
face for as long as I could bear it. Even my brother embraced me
stiffly. “While I cannot approve of the use of magic, it was a
brave thing you did, brother. What is wrong?”

Unwanted tears began to spill down my face
and I let out a stream of expletives. “What do you think is wrong?
My fucking hand is burnt!”

I almost expected Brin to begin chastising
me for my use of ungodly language but mercifully, he did not.

“
Then I will fetch the salve,” Kari
said. “You were wonderful, my Ned. I will see to your
hand.”

We moved inside. Such was my agony I didn’t
notice if my brother had reacted to Kari’s endearments, and at that
point I didn’t care what he thought. As Kari plastered the cooling
cream onto my burn, I sighed with blissful relief and sagged into
the armchair. Kel stoked the fire with trembling hands clutched
tight around the poker. Lana knelt beside me, smiling widely.

“
If only we had a vintage worthy to
toast such a feat! Ah, Ned, after so many years you surprise me
yet, and it is wonderful. Such tales we will tell back at the Duck
and Swan upon our return! Nedim the Summoner walks again, bane of
Night Walkers and hero of the Thar Mati pilgrims. It will surely be
worth a free flagon of the finest ale.”

Now the pain had subsided greatly, I flexed
my hand and gave a weak chuckle. “Kaldar will no doubt put me to
work at summoning coins from the pockets of his debtors once
more.”

“
You summoned coins from pockets?”
Brin said, folding his arms. Thankfully my recent heroics had a
stifling effect upon the sermon and possible whippings he would
have given me for such a reckless admission. No doubt he would
store it all away to be used in later beratings, and I was suddenly
conscious of his judgmental gaze as Kari tended further to my hand,
stroking more ointment over the burn.

As the last of the terror and excitement
gurgled away from my mind like dirty water down a drain, I felt
suddenly exhausted. “Let us sleep,” I said as a jaw-splitting yawn
forced its way out. “And hope there are no more interruptions. If I
am forced to burn another hand, I will not be much company on this
journey of ours.”

“
To the dawn then, my Ned.” Kari stood
up, beaming, and went to prepare the blankets. Before I could say
anything, my brother gave me an ominous look before retiring to his
room.

***

The next morning we were again awakened by
another clattering at the door. Thankfully our visitor was not the
risen dead but the new Keeper with an over-laden donkey and about
twenty silver-clad warriors in tow. He was a man of middle age with
a toothy scowl that he flashed at us as he looked about his new
accommodation. As I scrambled to pack my bags once more, I listened
to Kari engage the man in conversation. The Keeper’s voice was
gruff and he did not seem overly joyous about his new station in
life. The fresh-looking lines of misery on his face led me to
speculate that his was a position often occupied by the newly
single.

He looked at us as if we were something
unpleasant on the soles of his boots, but nodded a greeting of
sorts. Kari was clearly explaining where things were about the hut
and what had happened the previous night. As the new occupant
listened, his scowl deepened but he gave me a nod of
acknowledgement all the same. I felt some sympathy for the man,
given the grisly fate of his predecessor.

We did not eat breakfast, feeling
uncomfortable about using up the few remaining foodstuffs right
under the nose of the man they now belonged to. The warriors
outside were no more friendly. Faces hidden behind swathes of
silver, their eyes narrowed and they turned away as we led the
donkey past them. Two of them broke from their ranks and
accompanied us to the mouth of the cave, talking to Kari as the
rest of us lagged behind. Only Brin seemed unfazed about the
prospect of facing giant spiders in the dark. He had donned his
armor once more and appeared much more like himself. In his hand he
carried a branch with oiled strips of material wound round the tip:
the torch which would light our way. I hoped he did not expect me
to provide the flame.

Flexing my hand — which was still blistered
and stinging despite another application of Kari’s healing cream —
I nudged Lana and pointed at the warriors, all of whom carried a
dagger at one side of their belt and wooden tube at the other,
presumably for shooting out their famed poison-tipped darts.

“
You would think these believers in
love would be more open to the chance of it,” I said in a low
voice. “Apart from Kari and the monks we first met, they have been
a thoroughly unpleasant and unwelcoming people.”