The Fatal Revenant Part 48

Both the Humbled and the Ramen were galloping swiftly toward her.

Cursing, Linden wheeled Hyn to meet the threat of the Harrow and Esmer-and saw that a mult.i.tude of ur-viles had appeared as if they had risen suddenly out of the gouged dirt, accompanied by a much smaller number of Waynhim. Suns.h.i.+ne on the obsidian skin of the ur-viles made them look like avatars of midnight, stark as fuligin. The greyer flesh of the Waynhim had the color of ash and exhaustion.

They were the last of their kind- s.h.i.+t, she thought. Of course. Ur-viles, Waynhim-and Esmer. It is their intent to serve you. They had come for her sake. They watch against me In spite of their distrust for each other, Cail's son had brought several score of them out of the distant past. And they had earned her faith. Now she did not know whom Esmer was trying to betray.

United as if they had forgotten their long enmity, the ur-viles and Waynhim had formed themselves into two fighting wedges, one led by their only loremaster, the other by a small knot of Waynhim. Barking raucously to each other, the creatures in one wedge faced Esmer. The other formation confronted the Harrow.

The loremaster held an iron scepter or jerrid that fumed with vitriol. The Waynhim brandished short curved daggers that looked like they had been forged of lucent blood.

Both men had stopped. Esmer stood with his fists clenched. His cymar billowed around him as if it were being tugged by winds which Linden could not feel. Spume rose like vapor from the dangerous seas of his eyes. His limbs seemed to quiver with suppressed outrage and alarm.

"Wildwielder," he said in a voice like a blare of trumpets, "you do not know the harm that this Insequent desires. In another moment, the caesure would have taken him, and you would have been spared much. It was madness to redeem him."

Closer to Linden, the Harrow sat his destrier with an air of deliberate nonchalance, although he was breathing heavily, and beads of sweat stood on his forehead. From the symbols on his boots to the beads in his leathern doublet, he was a figure of sculpted muscle and casual elegance. The plowshare clasp which secured his chlamys emphasized the neatness of his hair and beard. And the hues of his raiment harmonized with the moisture-darkened shades of his destrier's coat. Only the lightless depths of his eyes suggested that he had not accidentally wandered into the Land from some more courtly realm where a munificent king or queen presided sumptuously over lordlings and damsels bright with meretricious grace.

"Lady," he said, inclining his head. "Your intervention was indeed timely." His voice had not lost its loamy richness, in spite of his exertions. "I see with pleasure that you have elected to accept my companions.h.i.+p."

His quirt had disappeared. He must have concealed it somewhere under his short cloak.

Tightening her grasp on the Staff, Linden forced herself to look away again. "Stave," she said over her shoulder. the Woodhelvennin need to keep moving. They have to get out of here."

Kastenessen had touched Anele. He knew where to send the skurj.

Stave glanced toward the approaching riders, then met her gaze. Through the tumult of hooves, he replied. "The Masters comprehend this. They will not neglect their care for the folk of the Land. The villagers will be urged away. If any remain living when this peril has pa.s.sed, they will be escorted to Revelstone."

The ur-viles and Waynhim continued their rasping growls and coughs, cautioning Linden or threatening Esmer and the Harrow in a tongue as indecipherable to her as the language of crows.

All right." Slowly Linden faced Esmer and the Harrow once more. With both hands, she gripped the Staff, anchoring herself on Law and Earthpower, blackness and runes. "You've had your fun. Now its my turn.

You both want something from me, but you aren't going to get it this way.

"No," she said to the Insequent. "I don't accept your companions.h.i.+p. But you don't care about that. If you did, you wouldn't have led Esmer here," where so many innocent and helpless people might have lost their lives-and might yet die if she did not find a way to defuse the danger. "In a minute, you can justify yourself by telling me why Esmer wants you dead." As if she were fearless, she glared into the dark tunnels of his eyes. "Right now, you can keep your mouth shut.

"As for you," she flung at Esmer. "if you think that you absolutely need to destroy the Harrow, you could have found some other way to do it. You didn't have to drive him straight toward those poor Woodhelvennin. I don't care how much he scares you. This is just another betrayal."

Esmer's face held a torrent of protests and indignation. But when she said the word, "betrayal," he flinched visibly, and his anger collapsed into consternation, as if she had touched a hidden vulnerability; a concealed self-abhorrence.

"So tell me-" Linden was about to say, Tell me about this service that he claims he can perform. But then she changed her mind. Esmer feared the Harrow's intentions; therefore he would refuse to explain them. Instead she finished, "Tell me what the ur-viles and Waynhim are saying."

Amid a clatter of hooves, the Humbled and the Ramen drew near. Immediately Mahrtiir rode to her side, and Bhapa joined her opposite the Manethrall. Mahrtiir's gaze was fierce, eager to repay First Woodhelven's ruin, but the plight of the villagers lined Bhapa's visage.

In a flash of brown limbs and grace, Pahni jumped down to help Liand and Stave boost Anele onto Hrama's back. Then the three of them remounted their Ranyhyn; and Stave brought Hynyn forward to guard Linden with Mahrtiir and Bhapa.

The ur-viles and Waynhim may have been asking Linden what she wanted them to do.

"I am able to interpret their speech as well as the mere-son," said the Harrow with a suggestion of smugness. "Though they recognize that you do not comprehend them, they strive to inform you that I possess the knowledge to unmake them. Also they fear my purpose, just as they fear my attacker's. In the name of their Weird, however, they will give of their utmost to preserve you, ignoring the certainty of failure and doom."

Linden stared at him. "Wait a minute.

You understand them?"

She had made a promise to the Waynhim and the ur-viles. If the Harrow could kill them all- "Lady," he replied. "I repeat that I have made a considerable study of such beings. I have pored over the Demondim, as you know, but also over both their makers and their makings. These sp.a.w.n are corporeal. Therefore they are not as readily unbound as the Demondim. Yet they may be erased from life by one who has gleaned the secrets of their creation.

"Behold."

With one hand, the Harrow performed a florid gesture as if he were drawing mystic symbols in the air. With the other, he stroked the umber beads of his doublet.

Suddenly one of the ur-viles at the edge of the wedge near him slumped. As he gestured, the creature appeared to sag into itself as if it were being corroded by its own acrid blood. In moments, it had become a frothing puddle of blackness in the plowed dirt and shale.

From Esmer came a sound like the sighing of water over jagged rocks. A blast seemed to gather around him as if he were mustering seas.

They will wield dark theurgies against me," said the Harrow like a shrug. "However, I am not troubled. I have expended much to garner difficult knowledge. It will suffice to ward me."

What seek, lady, is to possess your instruments of power.p> seek, lady, is to possess your instruments of power.p> Far too late, Linden shouted. "Stop that! G.o.d d.a.m.n you, I promised them!" The liquid remains of the ur-vile bubbled and steamed, denaturing quickly. Soon it had evaporated. "Do it again, and I'll make a caesure for Esmer to use against you!"

She was bluffing: she could not draw on Covenant's ring while Esmer stood nearby. Cail's son knew it. She gambled that the Insequent did not.

In response, he laughed. "A dire threat, lady, but empty. You are known to me. Your desire for the service which I am able to perform will outweigh other avowals."

"Then," Linden snapped hotly. "you had better explain yourself. And make it fast. If you know me even half as well as you think, you know that I'm sick of being manipulated. I am not going to put up with it."

He had already cost her the Mandoubt. He had put the villagers in danger to obtain her aid against the Fall; to coerce her. Now he had slain an ur vile. And by summoning the Demondim, Esmer had caused the deaths of dozens of Masters, ur-viles, and Waynhim. He had helped Roger and the croyel s.n.a.t.c.h her out of her proper time. Clearly he had been willing to cause the deaths of the Woodhelvennin in order to snare the Harrow.

Moving slowly, Liand brought Rhohm to Mahrtiir's side. In his hand, he still cupped the orcrest. The Sunstone shone again: it burned like a clean star in his palm, brilliant and ineffable. Its white light seemed to exalt him, limning both his youth and his resolve.

"Perhaps a test of truth, Linden'?" he suggested. His voice shook, but his hand held steady.

Behind Linden, Pahni radiated apprehension. Yet she stayed with Anele, watching over the old man while he slept on Hrama's back.

"Nor Esmer shouted in a voice that resounded as though it echoed back to him from tall cliffs. "Uncaring Insequent, your purpose is an abomination!" Energy acc.u.mulated around him, imminent and potent. If he released it, it would hit like a cyclone. "You will not speak."

The Harrow c.o.c.ked a scornful eyebrow. "How will I be prevented? Your power is great, mere-son. You have inherited much. Doubtless I might be slain, were I unable to step aside. Yet here there is no caesure to constrain me. Undisturbed by such forces, I may pa.s.s where and how I will. Strike as you choose. I will not remain to receive your blow."

"Flee if you dare," countered Esmer. "I am the descendant of Elohim. I will harry you to the outermost verge of the Earth."

"You will not," the Harrow snorted.

"You are bound to the lady. Also you are no true Elohim. Your mortal blood cannot withstand her Staff. She will defend me because she must. She greatly desires my service. And when her fire is raised against you, it will scour you to the marrow of your bones. If you do not perish, you will be made helpless, for good or ill."

Esmer's and the Harrow's threats were loud. Linden spoke softly. "A test of truth. I like it." wish I could spare you.p> wish I could spare you.p> h.e.l.l, I wish any of us could spare you. The thought that she might be risking Liand's life made her heart quail, but she betrayed no hesitation. "Does one of you want to volunteer? Should I choose for you?"

She had no idea what would happen. As far as she knew, both Liand and the orcrest would crumble. But she needed to counter the animosity between Esmer and the Harrow. She had to understand their fear or loathing toward each other. And she wanted at least one of them to give her an honest explanation.

She thought that she saw a flicker of uncertainty in the shrouded emerald of Esmer's gaze. His incipient storm wavered. And the Harrow seemed troubled by her proposal.

Or by something else- Unexpectedly Galt announced. It is needless to hazard the Stonedownor, or the orcrest." He and the other Humbled had joined Linden's defenders. He spoke to her, although his gaze was fixed on the Harrow. "This Insequent has defeated us once. But he has forgotten that Brinn of the Haruchai surpa.s.sed ak-Haru Kenaustin Ardenol in single combat. Knowing the Harrow, we will not again fail against him."

Linden expected Esmer and the Harrow to react with scorn; but she was wrong. Suddenly vindicated or alarmed, Esmer took a few steps backward. Ignoring Galt, the Harrow turned the caves of his eyes to the east, past Linden and her companions.

With an air of insouciance, the Insequent informed the empty air, "This is a petty chicane. You are indeed reduced without the aid and knowledge of the croyel. I concede that your glamour is potent, extending as it does to conceal so many. But such ploys do not become you. If you claim the stature to stand among this company, more valor will be required of you."

"Talk's cheap, a.s.shole," retorted Roger.

Twenty or thirty paces in the direction of the Harrow's gaze, Covenant's son appeared as if he had stepped through an imperceptible portal.

"Run while you can," he continued. As he unveiled himself to her senses, Linden felt the seething rage of his right hand, Kastenessen's hand; magma and fury free of dross, distilled down to their essential savagery. If you don't, I'm going to fry your bones. Then I think we'll all eat that silly horse of yours."

He did not have Jeremiah with him. Still Linden's heart ached as if she had been spurned.

"Indeed?" The Harrow's tone was a snarl of mockery. The lady will not permit it. And I will aid her against you, as will these many Demondim-sp.a.w.n."

"I know," Roger spat. "That's why I didn't come alone."

With a gesture that left a reeking wail across Linden's sight, he unwrapped his glamour from an army of Cavewights.

Instinctively she cried out for power; and the Staff answered with a clarion spout of flame.

She had seen such creatures before, in the Wightwarrens under Mount Thunder. They were formed for delving, with huge spatulate hands like mattocks and heads that resembled battering rams; disproportionately long scrawny limbs; hunched torsos and protruding ribs. Standing erect, they were nearly as tall as Giants. Because their arms and legs were so thin, she might have expected them to be weak; but she already knew their strength. Although they could crawl in improbable s.p.a.ces, they were mighty diggers, able to gouge and crush rocks in their fingers. Their heavy jaws may have been capable of chewing stone. The ruddy heat of the Earth's depths filled their eyes like molten granite.

Roger Covenant had brought at least two hundred Cavewights with him, ready for battle. They wore crude armor fas.h.i.+oned from thick plates of stone lashed together. And they were all armed. Some bore spears and bludgeons: others hefted hacking broadswords as brutal as claymores.

Linden had expected the skurj, not Roger and Cavewights. But she had told him that she planned to head for Andelain. He could a.s.sume that she would essay the most direct route from Revelstone. Certainly he had had plenty of time to position his forces. And Kastenessen had touched Anele: the Elohim knew precisely where she was.

Like Esmer, Roger meant to block the Harrow's intentions. If Covenant's son-and therefore Kastenessen-had wished only to prevent her from reaching Andelain, he would not have come when other powers might defend her.

The skurj might not be far behind- Linden's flame rose higher, leaping into the heavens.

As if on command, Hrama and Naharahn brought Anele and Pahni close to Linden. Liand was pushed toward her as Stave and the Humbled quickly formed a cordon around the most vulnerable members of their company. At the same time, Mahrtiir and Bhapa charged at Roger and the Cavewights, two against two hundred- In the distance, the Woodhelvennin watched the onset of battle. The Masters among them may have urged them to flee. If so, they paid no heed.

Desperately Linden prepared a scourge of fire. But she could not choose a target: she was torn between her rage at Roger and her frantic desire to protect the Ramen.

Narunal and Whrany pounded toward the army. The Cavewights responded with a cacophonous shriek. From Roger's right hand came a spew of hot theurgy like a bolt of fluid stone. It would have slain the two Ranyhyn and their riders instantly; should have slain them. Yet Narunal and Whrany veered aside, supernally swift, as if they had foreseen Roger's attack. His blast hit the ground, sending an eruption of flint and shale into the air, charring the dirt as if the soil were leaves and twigs. It did not touch flesh.

A heartbeat later, the Manethrall and his Cord sprang from their mounts with their garrotes ready. They leapt past two of the leading Cavewights; wrapped their weapons around the Cavewights' necks as they pa.s.sed. Their momentum jerked the cords taut. Then they stood on the backs of the creatures, using the strength of their legs to strangle the Cavewights.

Mahrtiir's opponent reached up with both hands to s.n.a.t.c.h the Manethrall from its back. But before the long fingers found Mahrtiir, Narunal reared, slamming his hooves into the creature's chest. As the Cavewight toppled backward, its neck snapped. Mahrtiir dropped to the ground, unscathed amid an enraged throng of creatures.

Whrany endeavored to give Bhapa similar aid, but the vicious thrust of another Cavewight's spear forced the Ranyhyn to dance aside. Then Whrany whinnied sharply: a warning. As the creature that Bhapa was trying to throttle grabbed for him, the Cord released his grip and jumped toward his mount-and a bludgeon which would have crushed him struck the Cavewight's skull instead.

Now Linden burned to defend the Ramen. Mahrtiir was about to be trampled: a spear would spit Bhapa if a swinging broadsword did not catch Whrany first. But Roger had already mustered another quarrel of magma. If she did not strike at him- "Linden!" Liand yelled.

Instantly she was surrounded by flaring powers and combat.

Behind her, the ur-viles and Waynhim had rearranged themselves into three wedges. One hurled a lurid splash of vitriol at the Harrow. Another struck Esmer with concussions like the spasms of an earthquake. And from the third, a volley of blackness roared over Linden's head to fall, howling, toward Roger. He was compelled to redirect his blast so that he would not be incinerated.

The Harrow seemed momentarily surprised by his danger. Wherever he was struck, his chlamys, doublet, and leggings caught fire. But with one hand he swept the flames away: with the other he rubbed his beads in an intricate pattern. Then he began to gesture urgently, muttering incantations.

No more acid touched him, although the loremaster's wedge a.s.sailed him furiously, barking like maddened dogs. Instead the corrosive fluid evaporated before it could bite into him.

Behind the loremaster, ur-viles began to drop one by one, sagging into themselves as though they were being eaten alive by their own lore.

Esmer stood upright to meet the concussive a.s.sault, and his eyes gleamed like the glare of lightning on the waves of a bitter sea. He made no effort to defend himself. Rather he accepted each crash and detonation, although they shook him as if they struck his bones. In spite of his obvious pain, he ignored the wedge attacking him.

As he had in the Verge of Wandering, and again on Revelstone's plateau, he caused the ground to erupt like water into spouts and squalls. Dirt and broken stone became little hurricanes which swirled upward as if they had been spewed forth by the earth. Waving his arms, he sent towering geysers, not against his a.s.sailants, but toward the Harrow.

The Harrow had said that he could step aside from Esmer's power; yet he did not. He may have been snared by the force of the ur-viles-or by the imminent threat of Roger's might.

Linden felt the Cavewights rus.h.i.+ng at her. Instinctively she turned Earthpower on them, whirling the Staff around her head to flail the creatures with flame. The Cavewights wielded no magic except their own strength and weapons: alone, they were no match for the ur-viles and Waynhim. But the Demondim-sp.a.w.n were fighting three other antagonists at once. They had no theurgy to spare for the Cavewights.

In one place, the charge of the Cavewights was occluded by the Ramen and their Ranyhyn. From the ground, Mahrtiir dodged blows and kicks, avoided stamping feet. At the same time, he contrived to trip creatures with his garrote. In the confusion, Cavewights trying to slash or gut him often hit each other instead. And Narunal reared to his full height, las.h.i.+ng out powerfully with his hooves. Meanwhile Bhapa had urged Whrany among the creatures around Mahrtiir. Whrany delivered kicks with uncanny accuracy as Bhapa sprang away. The Raman wrapped his cord around a broadswordwielding Cavewight's arm and used his own weight and the creature's fury to redirect the blade so that it cut at other attackers.

The efforts of the Ramen and their mounts slowed one small section of the charge, leaving Linden free to fling fire and desperation at nearer foes. She could strike there without endangering her friends.

Yet a dissociated reluctance hampered her. Surely she was still a healer? Surely she still loathed war and killing? But she had found new aspects of herself on Gallows Howe; had become a woman whom she hardly knew: she yearned to repay with death the affront of her foes. Images of the croyel feasting on her son's neck demanded recompense.

Her own eagerness for bloodshed dismayed her. Apart from their sheer numbers, the Cavewights had no defense against the power of her Staff. She could slaughter them too easily. In spite of her companions' peril, she unleashed only a portion of her full strength. She ached to fling it at Roger rather than at the brute rampage of the creatures.

Nevertheless she fought. Mahrtiir and Bhapa might be slain in moments. Already the Ranyhyn bled from several wounds, and both Ramen had been hurt. They needed her; needed more violence from her than she knew how to countenance. She could not save the Ramen unless she overcame her chagrin.

If Roger struck at her now- Liand might be able to defend himself with the orcrest, perhaps by blinding a few a.s.sailants. Pahni might find some way to keep Anele alive briefly. But they would not survive for long.

"Stave!" Linden panted. "Stave." But it was Branl and Galt who answered her.

Leaving their Ranyhyn behind to aid in the last defense, the two Humbled sprinted on foot toward the chaos cl.u.s.tered around Mahrtiir and Bhapa. They seemed as mighty as Giants as they hammered into the fray. With heavy punches and iron kicks and slas.h.i.+ng elbows, they attacked the knees of the Cavewights. And when the creatures fell, squealing in pain, Galt and Branl battered their throats.

Igniting creatures until they burned like torches, Linden tried to see what happened to the Humbled and the Ramen. But the rest of Roger's army continued to surge toward her, and she could not afford to let her concentration slip.

Roger ignored the damage to his army. Now he seemed to counter the roaring blackness of the Demondim-sp.a.w.n with dismissive ease. The power blazing from his right fist increased moment by moment as if Kastenessen fed it; as if the Elohim channeled more and more of his scoria and anguish through Roger. And as Roger drove back the a.s.sault of the ur-viles and Waynhim, he also sent shafts of rage at the Harrow.

A spear arched through the air, plummeting toward Linden. Stave knocked it aside without apparent effort. Frantically she struggled against her consternation to pour more and still more pa.s.sion into the Staffs yellow fire.

Embattled, the Harrow began to give ground. When she risked a glance behind her, however, Linden saw that the Insequent fought only Roger and Esmer. The acid of the ur-viles no longer reached him. He gestured furiously with one hand and shouted commands to ward off Roger's blasts. With the other, he sketched arcane symbols in an attempt to quash earthen geysers. Frenzy filled the emptiness of his eyes. Yet the black theurgy of the ur-viles did not endanger him, although their loremaster still flung gouts of vitriol. Esmer's efforts to hurt the Harrow disrupted the attack of the Demondim-sp.a.w.n.

Esmer-?

He could have attacked the Harrow from any direction. At first, Linden thought that Cail's son chose an angle of a.s.sault which blocked the magicks of the ur-viles because he did not wish to share the Harrow's death with them: he craved it for himself-or for Kastenessen. But then she saw the truth. While he a.s.sailed the Harrow, Esmer continued to leave himself exposed to the shattering concussions of the third wedge; and they were weakening him. Blood hemorrhaged from his mouth with every breath. His arms and legs were livid with detonations and bruises. His cymar hung in tatters. As a result, his force was simply not great enough to overwhelm the Insequent. Yet he accepted his own hurts in order to concentrate his waning puissance on the Harrow.

In fact, he appeared to be protecting the Demondim-sp.a.w.n. The Harrow needed too much of his mystic knowledge to survive Roger's magma: the added threat of Esmer's swirling bombardment prevented him from unmaking any more of the ur-viles.

Aid and betrayal. Even here, the son of Cail and the Dancers of the Sea could not pick a side.

In spite of Linden's fire, the leading Cavewights drew nearer. Now Clyme charged to meet them, cras.h.i.+ng into them with all of Mh.o.r.n.ym's ma.s.s and might. A barrage of spears seemed to plummet as one toward Linden. Impossibly swift, Stave used one to strike the others down. The incessant clash of eldritch powers shook the ground. Hyn's hooves danced as she strove to provide Linden with a steady seat.

"No!" Linden howled, although she could hardly hear herself through the mad clangor and tumult of weapons, blows, screams. Nevertheless the ur-viles and Waynhim must have understood her; or understood what was happening better than she did. In unison, they stopped attacking Esmer. Turning their wedge, they began to hurl corrosion among the Cavewights.

The impact slowed the creatures' onrush. And Linden set fires among them as if they were dried and brittle, primed for conflagration. Sickening herself, she wielded her flail of Earthpower. As long as Roger only defended himself from the Demondim-sp.a.w.n while he tried to destroy the Harrow-as long as he did not strike at her and her mortal allies-she forced herself to fight his army instead of renewing the battle that had begun under Melenkurion Skyweir; instead of repaying him for his part in Jeremiah's pain.

In glimpses, she saw Mahrtiir and Bhapa; Galt and Branl; Clyme. The Ramen had neither the strength nor the speed of Haruchai: they certainly could not stand against the size and muscle of the Cavewights. Nonetheless they were experienced fighters, trained to protect the Ranyhyn with quickness and cunning. And their mounts fought for them. Gradually Galt and Branl on foot and Clyme on Mh.o.r.n.ym lunged and dodged their way through the melee toward Bhapa and Mahrtiir.