The Swamp Hut

William Donohue

Wodnik

by Ivan Bilibin, 1934

The Grandmaster leaned back in his chair, his eyes narrowed behind his steepled fingers as he concentrated on the text. His eyes ached and he realized that the light was fading. With a sneer he noticed the tapers were dying down. “I must beat that boy for forgetting to replace those candles.” He shook his head, leaning down toward the book, but the script was too difficult to make out in this dim. Throwing up his hands in frustration, he made an audible growl of disgust before leaning back once more. It was getting difficult for him to make out the words under normal situations, but in this light it was even harder. 

            “Can you get me some more light?” He then turned toward the doorway when he heard no immediate response; clearing his throat and lacing his words with an equal mixture of disgust and annoyance, “Albrecht, get me some light!”

            The boy-attendant came scurrying in with some new tapers. “Yes my lord. Sorry my lord. I was just looking to the visitors.”

            “Visitors?” The Grandmaster sounded incredulous, half raising his body in the chair, and swatted the short stick he kept by his side to hit the lad.

            “The men from the Papal See, Lord.” He flinched, raising his arm slightly to absorb the blow.

            The Grandmaster slammed the rod to the table, leaning forward to the boy with a vicious look on his face. “Why wasn’t I told?”

            “I was coming to tell you my lord. They just arrived and wished that I announce them to you while they prepared for Vespers.”

            “Vespers, oh yes…” the Grandmaster trailed off in thought, then rose quickly, closing the book he had.  “Get my robes, Albrecht, and call the brethren to prayer. Do it now, you fool.” Once the boy left he picked up the book and put it in his hiding place behind the bookcase. “No need to explain this to the Pope’s men.”And closed the compartment in the wall, then stopped to shake his head. “I must remember to beat that boy.”  He reached for the false beard on the table. He hooked it on carefully to hide the tentacles that had emerged from his chin as a blessing of the Eldar Gods. He smoothed out his robes, took a breath, and then moved toward the door. The guards opened the doors to allow him to greet the Papal representatives. He made sure his beard was hidden and hoped the Papal representatives did not notice.

            The men rose slowly, but with confidence. “Grandmaster, we had hoped to see you in Vespers. There were not many there. A Holy Order such as yours should take a more active role in faith.”

            “Yes, brother-inquisitor. Thank you. I was in my private chapel in prayer when you came. Had I known, I would have joined you. My boy was told not to disturb me, but he takes things too literally. I will beat him appropriately later.”

            To the Grandmaster, it was if the Gods had given him more gifts, and he carefully stroked his beard, careful not to dislodge it, but massaging his tentacles underneath.

            “Please do, Grandmaster; do not let him get too comfortable. We have need of your help.  Might we speak in your room?” He pointed back toward his quarters and without waiting for a reply continued on through.

            The Grandmaster nodded after the fact and motioned with his hand as they went in. He fixed his beard again and joined them. In truth, he was surprised that the Inquisition had time in between rooting out the heretic and hidden Moors and Jews in Spain to ask him a favor in person.  But then again, they were supposed to root out heresy everywhere – ironically they didn’t know much about his activities.  

            “We bring news that King Jan Olbrach has died and the Polish nobles are meeting to elect his brother, the Grand Duke as King. We fear that these Poles are bad enough, but the Lithuanians are just heretics beneath the surface. We have championed your cause in Rome that you should be supported in your noble endevor, but the Polish King had friends in the curia. This Alexander, however, has retreated into the pagan past, from what we hear. We just need the proof to push a new crusade against them. We need your help, Grandmaster, in finding evidence – real or otherwise.”

            The Grandmaster outwardly portrayed a stern, somewhat shocked, expression, nodding sympathetically. “Any aid I may provide, will be my pleasure.” It took all he had not to smile broadly, but he could feel his tentacles were wriggling with dark joy.

 

*****

 

            Michael Glinski found the Grand Duke in his study surrounded by papers. The Ducal Palace was a formidable looking place, but security was lax. There were guards outside the doors, but any well-meaning assassin could have made in it there. Alexander was not like his brother Jan Olbrach – he was more cerebral, not a brawler. He didn’t look up but just pointed to the chair across from him, “Sit down Michael. Help yourself to the wine.”

            “You unnerve me the way you do that. What if it wasn’t me?”

            “I know the sound of your steps; that clove scent you wear; and the sound you make as you enter a room. If I didn’t recognize any of those I would have pulled the dagger out of the pocket in the desk just in case. “

            “You worry me, my lord. I’m sorry to disturb you, but I just received two troubling correspondences. Unfortunately, both bad. First, your brother, the king, is dead. The Senate is meeting to prepare for an election to make you his successor.” He paused, waiting for a response, but there was just the familiar silence, until the Duke cleared his throat and paused before answering in a very measured cadence.

            “I will mourn my brother in my way. I am not sure I want the crown, but it is what is best for the family. I suspect the second is the quakes near Starybogow?” There was no hint of expression on his face when he said it.  “If my brother is dead, there is nothing I can do and the ship of state must go on. If there was an earthquake in Starybogow, we have bigger issues we must deal with.”

            Glinski raised an eyebrow, not so much surprised, but accepting. “I suppose you have your sources?”

            Again without looking up from the paper he was reading, he reached to a pile and handed Glinski a document along with a small wooden box with brass fittings and an iron lock, then looked up at him. “Give this to your agents. They need to get to the town and assess what help we need to give the monastery. I had some reports from our agents, but they have abruptly stopped. My Jasek is totally blank now. He gets no messages; senses nothing.  We need to re-open the communication.”

            Glinski looked around, but did not see the King’s fool anywhere. He nodded, took the paper along with the box, and left the room, moving down the corridor to his chambers. The haiduk guards presented their halbards as he passed them and entered his quarters. Two men and a woman waited there for him and stood up when he entered.

            He slid the contents in his hands across the table he used for correspondence and flopped down in his leatherbacked chair. He motioned to the people standing there. “Please sit down,” he pointed to a small table near his desk.  “Have some bread and cheese if you’d like.” He poured himself a glass of wine and offered some to each, which they all accepted.

            “You all know we are locked in a struggle with the Teutonic Knights.  You also know that our Duke is trying to protect the Old Gods and our ancient ways. What you may not know is why the news of these quakes in Starybogow is tied to this.

            “When the knights first came to the north at the invitation of Conrad of Masovia, they were to help beat back the ‘pagan’ Prus. At one point they might have been good Christians, but soon after setting up a base at Truso, before founding Elblag on the Baltic, many were infected by the Eldar Gods. Over the past two hundred or so years, several of the previous Grandmasters and senior leadership were ‘gifted’ special things by the dwellers of the deep. It is not as well known in Europe and many of those who hear this think that we are just spreading rumors, but at Neva and Grunwald, the growing power of the Eldar Gods was beaten back by commanders wielding swords of Perun. The Jagiellonians have kept this secret fight going, knowing what the world would face if they were not successful. We face one of those points in history that could pivot on what may happen next. There are those in the Teutonic Order who do not know the full truth, but many do and have willingly joined for the power they think the Eldar Gods can give them.” Glinski got up and walked around, rubbing his hands together, pointing and bringing his hands back together in frenetic energy.

            “The minions of the Eldar, in league with some of the minions of the darker Old Gods, have opened the void. Some have escaped, along with some of the Old Gods. The minions will no doubt try to bring more through. We have people in Starybogow to try and stop this, but we have lost contact with them. You need to get there, re-open the communication, and advise me for the Duke as to what is going on. The river has changed course, so you will have to go on foot for part of the journey, but also you will go under cover of tinkerers. A caravan is leaving in the morning, you will join them. Here is some money to get you going,” he threw a small leather purse on the table that hit with a clink. “You will go to the monastery and meet with them to appraise the situation.”

            He pointed to the paper and the box. One of the men looked to the other with a raised eyebrow, the girl gave them a disapproving look.  The paper was sealed, not by the ducal seal, but with the insignia of Perun. 

            Glinski continued, ignoring their motions. “They will have homing pigeons. You take two pigeons with you as well should you need to send a message in route. Here are your silver rings. Make sure you use them.”

            He held the rings up, studying them carefully before he handed them over. Silver was one of the things that could hurt the Eldar Gods as well as damage some of the darker Old Gods. The rings were good to punch them with and had a point that could do some damage. Even though they all carried silver daggers that were clinched to their wrists, the ring was still a great boon for emergencies. Then he handed them their necklaces with the amber pendants. Amber held the power of the Old Gods and the Eldar ones feared it; that is why it was so prevalent along the shore, acting as a barrier to keep the watchers of the deep at bay.

            The three had no questions. They were used to missions for Glinski. They knew that they could die one hundred different ways along a lonely road and no one would be the wiser. Instinct, guile, and a little martial prowess had allowed them to survive this long. There would be no hero’s welcome at the end of this, and no one but Glinski would know, but this was for revenge, plain and simple; it would always be about revenge. They simply nodded and left. The first man, Jan, turned to the woman Jadwiga, then to the second man David and asked, “Okay, who do you want to be your husband this time?” They laughed and kept going.

            After the hall had quieted down, unbeknownst to Glinksi, a figure moved from the shadows dressed in black. No one would notice the missing guard until morning. He checked to make sure he would not be seen and went out a window into the yard below. From the crack in his door, Glinski noted the man leaving and knew the plan was in place.

 

*****

 

            The caravan was set to leave Vilnius at dawn the next morning through the Trocki Gate. It was a hodge-podge group that would grow and contract depending how far they were going. It was dangerous to travel alone and caravens like this gave the members a sense of security.  Most of the participants were going to Grodno and who knew where else from there. One of the powerful nobles, Pawel Sapieha, provided an escort for that leg of the journey as they were going to escort some Sapieha relative back to the Lithuanian capital. Since the noble did not pay his private troops very well, and they had no incentive to save the people in the caravan, the members all chipped in a little more money as insurance that the guards would still protect them should they be attacked. 

            The fourth wagon from the end belonged to Jan Roback and his pseudo-wife Jadwiga, accompanied by her brother, David. Owing to the hour and the distance to travel, the participants were happy, yet quiet as they moved out through the Trocki Gate, past the new walls that were just being started. 

            The last wagon was a late addition, just a cloth merchant and his assistant. He said they had traveled from the Tartar Khanate with rare cloth and were supposed to be in an earlier caravan going to Warsaw, but delays kept him from leaving and he did not dare venture out on his own to try and catch-up. He spoke with a strange accent, describing himself as Wallachian. He was quiet for a merchant and discouraged his assistant from talking to the others as well. His assistant was a boy who seemed mute and the merchant would speak to him in a guttural tone that the agents could not recognize.

            The first night passed without incident. They camped in a protective circle in a hollow off the road, away from anyone that might wander by. They kept the fires low to avoid detection and the Sapeiha guards took turns keeping watch with the travelers. There were plenty of stars and all was calm except for the horses, but they always seemed nervous.

            They all talked amongst themselves, swapping stories of their travels or asking about foreign lands; all except the Wallachian. Jadwiga had an ear for languages, which had always done them well in the past, but she could not make out what he was saying when he spoke to the boy. The next morning when they set out, she voiced her fears to the others.

            “I can’t put my finger on it, but there is something wrong with that cloth merchant.” Jadwiga turned to look back down the line at the man bringing up the rear. “I could feel it when we stopped. The horses noticed too.  Animals can always tell.”

            David lay in the wagon behind the seat, cleaning the dirt under his nails with his dirk, then propped himself up on one elbow. “You know, Jan, I did notice the hobbled horses seemed to move away from the area he was parked. And yet, his own horses seem too lethargic to care.”

            “You know, if you try using water once in a while you would avoid playing with that knife like that.” Jan turned to push his compatriot then stopped suddenly with a shiver, as if a cold blast of air was hitting him.

            Jadwiga touched his arm. “Its okay, we’ll be stopping soon.” She then turned toward David with a look of concern.

            Jan was sensitive to disturbances in this reality, which is the skill he brought to their party. Jadwiga knew that sometimes his experiences had a lasting effect. “He’ll be fine. Just too much exposure to demons.”

They all went quiet and just kept looking ahead at the rumps of horses.

 

*****

 

            The next morning, the caravan was slow starting as two of the members had not hitched their horses. The group had pitched their camp in an open section of forest. The area they were traveling was marshy and full of scrub pines, and the leader assured them it was the best place they could stop between rest areas. It seemed like they were not covering the distance they would have expected.

            “I think that merchant is pulling us back,” Jan laughed.” We couldn’t be moving any slower.” Normally these type journeys had predisposed rest areas, since camping in the open was not recommended, but this trip felt like it was going slowly nowhere.

            There was a cry as one of the men who went to use privacy came running out of the woods. The wagon master, a big brute named Osok, ran over to the spot. Jan joined him, feeling as if his head would explode with each step. The man who had originally gone to relieve himself, had done so in his britches. He was standing there pointing when Osok and Jan came up. It was the two members of the spice merchants guild gutted from sternum to groin. Almost by rote, each of the remaining members came over to gape, then turn away. 

            “Wolves!” the wagon master said it so firmly, everyone in earshot nodded in assent. He acted too calm and matter-of-fact for Jan. “This is why you shouldn’t wander too far away from camp, especially at night. There are most likely wolfen in this area. I have heard it before.”

            Jadwiga, however, turned to Jan.“Didn’t anyone hear anything? I think we would have heard something.” Then she turned to the wagon master, “If there were wolfen in this area why would we stop here or why wouldn’t you tell us?”

            Osok stopped and the smile disappeared from his face. “You are a woman, you don’t understand. Women never understand.” Then he turned away and yelled to his assistants,“Bury those bodies before they attract more unwanted attention.”

            “Yes,” David said firmly in agreement, stepping in from of Osok and then loud enough for the others to hear, “if it was wolves we would have heard this. Did anyone hear anything?  What about the guards?” It was then he noticed that the guards were nowhere to be seen.

Jadwiga chimed in again,“We would have heard wolves, Osok. Where are the guards?”

            “I don’t know. It was the guards then!” He stomped around in a circle and once again the rest of the group nodded.  “Yes, the guards.”

            “Where are the guards?”Jan raised his voice to a yell, not believing that anyone would agree with this.

            “I don’t know. They must have killed these two and run off – and we paid them extra!” Osok threw his hands up as if in disgust at guards reneging on a business deal and the whole idea of wolfen seemed to disappear.

            Suddenly one of the other merchants piped up as Osok walked away. “Who gets their goods?”

            Osok, turned on his heel, moving everyone out of the way and got toe to toe with the merchant. The wagon master was a full head taller and looked down on him deadly serious as he jabbed his finger into the chest of the merchant, as if punctuating each syllable. “Unclaimed goods are the property of the wagon master. I will dispose of them as I see fit.”

            At this point Jadwiga piped in.“Aside from the fact that we are now defenseless, shouldn’t we hurry to bury these poor folks?”

            Osok got two adzes, while Jan and the cloth merchant offered to bury the men. 

            “Why would the guards murder these two when they could have gotten us all?  No robbery, just murder. It makes no sense.” Jan looked at the Wallachian expecting an answer, but only received raised eyebrows and stoic continuation of burying the spice merchants. Every other strike in the ground they seemed to find rocks. Jan stopped after a little while of this and looked around. The clearing was manmade. This was once one of the sacred groves of the Old Gods. There was probably a settlement nearby here. These stones, the foundation of a wall. 

            Carefully, Jan took off his ring and laid it on one of the stones in a way that the Wallachian could not see - the silver ring turned red, indicating the dark ones’ trace was present. This was done on purpose to foul the land.

 

*****

 

            Jan and the Wallachian buried the merchants as best they could and placed some stones over the grave to keep the wolves off. Osok stood, watching them, in turns telling them what they were doing wrong, but not really helping. When the group finally got moving again, Jan looked up to try to locate the sun in order to gauge the time of day, but no matter where he looked, he could not find it.  It seemed instead like dawn – or even dusk. There was a haze that hung low in the sky. It did not seem like fog, yet it did not let the sun through. 

            Osok moved the wagons around. There were originally six, although only five now had their drivers still with them. In addition to Jan, Jadwiga, and David in their ruse as tinkerers, there was the cloth merchant, a tinsmith, the trader who had asked about the deceased spice merchant’s goods, the wagon of the spice merchants, and a doctor with his apprentice.

            They had traveled for a little over an hour and still saw no sign of humans in the desolate track they traveled down. Jan noticed the landscape began to take on a marshy appearance, to the point that the road narrowed and forced the travelers to stay toward the center at the risk of getting bogged down. Finally this reached a river with some ferrymen there, and Jan turned to his compatriots and gave them an uneasy look. While many ferries were set up to accommodate travelers, it seemed as if these ferrymen knew about their approach, as if they were waiting for this caravan. The mist and fog continued to plague their journey with the air remaining grey.  

            “Where are we Osok?”

            “I don’t know for sure, this doesn’t look familiar, but I’ve traveled this road hundreds of times.” He crossed himself three times and spit (did the man wince?). He went up to what looked like the leader to negotiate passage.

            The men and women that crewed the two ferries all looked slack eyed with high foreheads; almost as if they were all related. Osok spoke and gestured to the men, at times animated as he tried to get his point across. After a few minutes he came back, huffing and puffing before breaking into a big smile. 

            “I’ll use some of the money from the merchants to pay for this.  We must have missed a turn off a while back, but crossing with these ferrymen should put us back on course.”

            Jan tried to make eye contact with the Wallachian again, not feeling comfortable with what Osok offered as an explanation, but the dark man would not look him in the eye.

            There was grumbling from the doctor; there was always grumbling from him, yet if you asked him a question directly he would smile and act as if you were best friends. Now, however, he was loud in his complaints. “How did you go off course? This is not a boat at sea. You are supposedly an experienced guide. Bah. You are costing me time and money…”

            The odd ferrymen moved into position to bring the travelers across the river. The ferries had a gate that flopped down which allowed man and beasts to enter from the ground level along with the wagons.  The horses didn’t like getting on, making all sorts noises and shying away from entering. 

            ”Looks like these guys have been breeding too much amongst their own kind,” David muttered under his breath.

            The ferrymen were slow moving and slower of thought. All the time, they stood there with dull looks on their faces – they did not seem very bright. It looked like they had lived along the river and marshes so long they started to take on the appearance of fish. Before Osok left, David noticed that he looked back at the leader of the ferrymen with a pleading look in his eyes and the ferryman seemed to give him a slight perceptible nod. He stared too long and the ferryman caught him looking. David held the look for a second and noticed the ferryman smile before turning away.

            David approached his compatriots and started to secure the wagons before loading them on the ferry. His compatriots came over as he fussed with some straps. “I think something is very wrong.”

            Jan and Jadwiga exchanged looks, but said nothing as they kept helping David. 

            “This was no accidently meeting. This was premeditated.”

            “Is this just paranoia or did you actually see something?” Jadwiga gave a quick sideways glance to see if anyone was watching, but Jan tapped her pinkie, indicating that they were being watched.

            As a group, they adjusted their daggers and their rings. Jan felt nothing, so there was no Eldar Gods in play. The question was how many of the Slavic dark gods had breached the void and what condition where they in?

 

*****

 

            The ferries were finally loaded and the ferrymen, which included some women, started to move across the river. Using poles and pull ropes, the flat bottomed boats made slow but steady going, until the ferries suddenly stopped in the middle of the river. At first, the ferrymen tried to keep moving but then David realized they were stuck. Suddenly, the ferrymen dove overboard into the river and the passengers became frantic, trying to move the boat forward or back. Jan, David, and Jadwiga tried to help them, but the other boat was held firmly in place. Jan and Jadwiga looked at each other along with the Wallachian, then over to the other ferry with the doctor, merchants, and Osok. He could see them pointing, waving, and yelling, while Osok kept shouting to the ferrymen swimming away. Then the ferries both ‘bounced’, as if something ran into them. The passengers kept yelling. Then, the boats started rocking and small hands reached from the water.

            Jan felt as if a pit dropped in his stomach. Something or someone had agitated the mermen, the water spirits; the wodniks. As they made themselves known, surfacing from the depths as they latched to the side of the boat, Jan noticed that there were also females leading them; the wodniks would often be alone, but combined with a rusalka, they were a force to be reckoned with.  Someone called out, “I wish we had a bigger boat.”

            Then, the chaos really ensued.  

            The men were scrambling while the horses tried to leap out of the boat, but were still connected to their wagons. Osok fell in the water and as he tried to climb back in, scaly green, moist hands pulled him back under. Jan could see there was a look of disbelief on his face as he was pulled under.

            Jan’s focus returned to his own boat and he grabbed an oar. The Wallachian, as if he knew what to do, started sprinkling pepper on the water creatures and they recoiled enough that the boat seemed to be floating again. The passengers in the other boat were not as lucky. One was knocked into the water by a frantic horse, another was too close to the side and was pulled in by one of the wodniks, who leaped out of the water and grabbed one of the merchants with webbed hands, and pulled him back into the water. Jan and Jadwiga slashed at them with their silver daggers to help keep them away as they tried to move the boat closer to shore.

            On the opposite bank, a ferryman, who was in fact a large, powerful woman, tried to pull them across with a guide rope. As soon as the passengers realized they were free, they all joined in to pull the boat across. The Wallachian took off something from around his neck and dunked it in the water – it was amber! The wodniks and rusalka backed off, but it proved to be another oddity about this ‘Wallachian’. Jadwiga could not move quick enough to get off; jumping into the water up to her knees before it hit shore. Immediately, she felt hands pulling at her. She screamed, kicking the water with her back to the shore and almost fell if it were not for David reaching over to pull her along to land.

            She fell to the ground, but almost did a crabwalk to get away from the riverbank. She was breathing heavy, almost hyperventilating when Jan came up to her and started to shake when he held her close. It was at that point she started sobbing and babbling, looking towards the water with fear and shooing the air with her hands as if she could will it to go away.  A few minutes ago, the water was a bubbling mess, now, except for the wreckage floating away, everything was calm. At that point, they noticed the men of the Teutonic Knights waiting for them just beyond the clearing. With no place to escape, they tried to get themselves as together as they could.

 

*****

 

            The brothers and the sergeants–at-arms were accompanied by some of the local folk who looked odd, and seemed as if they were inbreed over generations. Nonetheless, no matter how they looked, the spears they poked were just as sharp as the brethren knights who stood by them. The survivors of the water attack were handled roughly by the knights and they were all piled into the Wallachian’s wagon. His apprentice was very nervous, but the three spies tried to remain resolved to keep their heads about them.

            Jadwiga feigned scared and confused, as they should have been if they were normal people, but having survived a dozen or so missions for the Grand Duke they realized that brashness often made bullies back down.

            “You have no right to stop us, we are good Christians of the king. We are simple travelers.” Out of the side of her mouth she asked,“Do you think this will work?”

            “It won’t.  Hush.” Jan gave her a daggered look as he narrowed his eyes. After a moment, he sighed.“This is not going according to plan.”

            Jan tried to let David know what they were discussing in low tones. They could not trust the Wallachian or his apprentice any more than the knights. In truth, none of them were safe. If the knights knew the trio were on a mission from the duke, they would torture them for information; the Wallachian was a merchant and a foreigner; no one would miss him. This was a no win situation.

            “We all are in trouble,” piped up the Wallachian. “I have to get my merchandise to Starybogow.  Should something happen to me, I need one of you to take something to the gatekeeper.”  He leaned in closer to the trio.  “There’s a pouch under my seat.  It is of the utmost importance, the boy will know about it.  He can help you.”

            “Given our present situation, why should we, you dark hearted heathen?” Jan had no love for the man who had been silent until now.

            “Because we both serve the same master; I also serve the duke, but I bring an artifact that can’t fall into the hands of these foul servants of the dark one.”

            Jan narrowed his eyes, unsure of what to say, but taken aback by the man’s words nonetheless. They moved out and Jan looked the man in the eyes, “We will speak more on this in a bit – I hope.” The group was pulled out of the wagon and marched through the village. They remained quiet as the knights jostled them forward into the village.

 

*****

 

            The knights and their captives wound their way through the brush for a short time and came to a clearing by a marsh.  The village smelled of damp and rot which matched the buildings and the people.  As they entered, Jan thought he saw figures in the woods.  They appeared to be two or three young women.  They could not possibly be from the village – they appeared lithe and ethereal, like mists, and moved at the edges of the trees. Jan was transfixed and hadn’t thought to ask his other companions when the Wallachian spoke, breaking the spell.

            “There are allies here.  I’m not sure they can help us, but should the opportunity arise, we must all be prepared.”

            They were taken from the wagon and had their hands tied and separated.  David and Jan were locked in a shack; Jan noticed the Wallachian and his apprentice were taken elsewhere.  Jadwiga was moved with some women in another place.  As they were being led off, the sergeant called ‘Hoff’ called out to them.

            “We will be coming for you when we are ready. We are going to find which one of you is in the in the pay of the duke and where the artifact is.  That person may be of use to us.  The rest we will probably kill if you are lucky.  Be prepared.” Then he let out a cackle that sent shivers down their spine.  Jan and David were paraded past a large flat stone mounted near the water.  It seemed to have dark stains on it, which did not make them feel any more comfortable.

            As Jan and David sat in their hovel, they could see some armed villagers standing outside the porous walls, eyes fixed on them. “They look more like fish then men.” David just nodded and looked towards their compatriots in the other huts. “I swear they are making clicking noises when they talk to each other. It is very subtle, but I can hear it.”  He noticed the village headman was talking to the sergeant. It seemed if the brothers had gone elsewhere, and the villagers did not like what the sergeant was telling them.

 

*****

 

            Jadwiga was thrown roughly into a stable where one of the fishmen stood watch over her. Behind him, in the background, she could see movement. It was the wood spirits again moving about, looking as if scouting the area. If the men-at-arms and fishmen cold see them, they gave no sign. The soldiers were looking through the wagon.

            Jadwiga could see the soldiers rifling the wagon looking for something. Perhaps they knew about the package the trio were carrying. How could they know? Too much didn’t make sense, as if the enemy knew about their plans.

 

*****

 

            The Wallachian stood looking at the Teutonic warriors going through his wagon. His apprentice, Wart, sat on the ground rocking back and forth working himself into frenzy. As this went on, the activity of the wood spirits intensified and the wind picked up. The master looked at him with his palms down and the boy slowed down. He noticed the village headmaster and the sergeant arguing. The sergeant kept poking his finger into the chest of the headman and it seemed to be annoying the leader of the fishmen when suddenly the man was stabbed in the back of his head. A surprised expression appeared on the sergeant’s face before he fell to the ground. The Wallachian grabbed his apprentice and moved towards the back wall.

 

*****

 

            The villagers wanted their sacrifices. That was the agreement.  “The Ancient Ones demand a sacrifice.”

            Hoff shoved the headman hard.“You will get your sacrifices when we say – if at all. We’ll wait for the commander, and when he says so, and who you get, then you can play with the nice folks.” 

            “No unbeliever. We were promised suitable sacrifices by the next moon – tonight. If you will not give them to us we will take them.”

            “Only if you want this village burnt down, you savage.” He spit at the ground and turned to leave, when the headman pointed to his own ear. A woman walked up to the sergeant to offer him a drink. When he went to push her away she pivoted on her back heel and round-housed a short knife into the back of Hoff’s skull. The rest of the villagers had quietly surrounded the men at arms and most were killed. 

 

*****

 

            As David and Jan watched, it appeared as if their misfortune would be relieved. One man was left and he fought until he could fight no more. Wounded and bloody, he was overcome by the villagers. The women were the cruelest to him; they could tell this by his screams. He was brought behind a shed, towards the flat stone. They were followed by the remainder of the village who seemed bent on joining in the blood.  One villager was left at each of the huts to guard the prisoners.

 

*****

 

            From her captivity, Jadwiga could hear the chanting. She thought the villagers might let them go free, but then she realized they were substituting one set of monsters for another. The guard was transfixed on the events going on by the stone. He was sniffing the air as if he was taking in the scent of the blood. Jadwiga noticed movement off to the side. It was the wood spirits who had moved toward the stable. The spirits were part ethereal, part feral. They flitted about with wings, but had bark-like exterior. They sang, sing-song-like in light verse that seemed to keep the guard like stone in place. The spirits moved slowly, but kept singing, transfixing the fishman while others of their kind let Jadwiga go. The spirits released her from her prison and her bonds. While the man was still transfixed, she dispatched him with a small knife she kept in her boot. 

            The wood spirits moved, fading away back into the woods where they came from. Grabbing the guard by the heels she brought the body back to stable. Taking the dead guard’s spear, she moved around to the hut where David and Jan were kept. Getting their attention, they occupied the guard with their shouts when she stabbed him with the spear.  Freeing them quickly, they took the dead guard’s weapon then snuck up on the guard at the Wallachian’s and killed him quietly, picking up his weapon and ready to face the balance of the enemy. The two men worked quickly to get the wagon ready while Jadwiga got the Wallachian and his apprentice. 

 

*****

 

            Jan tried to organize the survivors as quickly he could. Each of them went about their business as quickly as they could, but the Wallachian went to the wagon and pulled the small woolen bag from under the front seat and shoved in into his sash. 

            “We need to get the boy out of here; now!” There was a sense of anxiety in the man’s voice that was not there before. “He is the prize, we need to get him out of here.”

            Suddenly Jan understood that this was a double blind. The boy had been ignored and in the background. They were led to believe there was a valuable object they were to guard – but the boy was the object.  They had been set up as bait, and if not for the delay, the boy would not be here.

            The men tried to muffle the sound of the horses and wagon as they pointed them in the direction out of town. The townsfolk were satiated for the moment, focused on the sacrifices, and started to work toward their next victims, walking around in a stupor that seemed like a sense of euphoria. When they finally noticed their captives in the midst of escaping, they were suddenly roused into action and with a roar and charged toward the wagon with their prizes.

            Jan, David, and Jadwiga managed to get the horses hitched and moving with the boy protected by the Wallachain. David took the reins and tried to get the wagon moving quickly. Jan saw the townsmen coming toward them on the run and threw a spear toward the lead townsman, which hit him square in the chest. This halted them for a second, while they decided who was brave enough to tempt death again. David didn’t wait and started the horses into a gallop, making distance between them and the fish people. The townspeople ran, but could not keep up with the horses and went back to mount up. 

            Jan was not sure where they were going, but he knew he needed to get away – anywhere – as quickly as possible and tried to direct David down the road. They came to a fork in the path and his natural inclination was to go left. 

            “Go right!” shouted the boy out of nowhere, and David instinctively yielded to the order, taking the right fork which ran parallel to the water. He could see a ford ahead after a short distance, where the river bisected the road. As they closed on the crossing, figures emerged from the water. They were not the fishmen, but looked like their comrades; those that died in the crossing of the big river. 

            Their faces were pale, almost white, with blank eyes. David tried to whip the horses into a frenzy, to rush at the bodies at full speed to run them over, but the horses shied at the approach and were hesitant to keep going. The water was only waist deep, but they were stuck in the middle with the dead closing in on them. Jan and Jadwiga poked at them with spears, but it only stuck them without stopping them. They were not close enough to use their daggers and if they waited that long it might be too late.

 

*****

 

            The fishmen and women got some horses and made their way after the prisoners. They were so far behind they could not see where the fugitives had gone. Rather than taking the right fork, they took the left, sure that was the direction they were heading to avoid the water. They had gone about one hundred yards when they saw a troop of horsemen moving toward them. They were brother knights and they were prepared for battle.

 

*****

 

            Brother-knight Randolph was talking to Brother-knight Mortimer making leisurely time toward the village. “The Commander will be pleased with this, Brother. Once we get those stooges of the Grand Duke to tell us where the artifact is, the mongrels in that village can do what they want with them.”

             “It is too bad they have not elevated themselves sufficiently to enjoy the blessing of the Eldar race. Those who do not serve the will of the Eldar Gods sufficiently will always perish.”

            The force of twelve mounted sergeants and twenty infantry continued in this manner for another twenty minutes when they came upon a man to the side of the road sitting with his back against a tree. He was dressed like one of the infantry and was wounded in several visible places, including the head and hands. One of the foot soldiers came up quickly to examine him, followed by a brother-surgeon. The rest of the infantry came up and set up a perimeter. The surgeon examined him. After a moment he hurriedly called for water and then gently forced some down his throat. The man choked and coughed, but once he settled down, his words were no more than a whisper. The surgeon nodded and ran up to the brother-knight making sure not to make eye contact.                   “Brother…”

            “Yes, soldier. Are you going to leave me in suspense?”

            “No, my lord. The soldier is named Franz. He was part of the garrison left at the fish town. The headman wanted to sacrifice the captives at the new moon despite the orders to wait. The villagers rose up against the garrison and killed them.”

            “How did Granz survive?”

            “Franz, my lord. He said he was able to fight some off before they got the better of him. He was only able to crawl off once his attacker was killed by one of ours, sir. He hoped he would find us to warn us.”   

            “Very well then. Sergeant! Get the men in battle formation and get ready to move on the double. Brother Stephen, once we get to that village, kill all of them. They are no use if they can’t follow orders. Burn it all. If they want a sacrifice to the Eldar Gods I will give them one.”

            “Brother-surgeon, will that soldier survive?”

            “Yes, my lord.”

            “Kill him.” His words were ice cold as he thrust his arm out toward the wounded soldier.

            “My lord…” The surgeon sputtered, staring at the commander in shock.

            “He is a coward. He should have fought and died with his companions. We kill cowards.” The man sneered as he stared down at the surgeon, his almond shaped eyes never showing the slightest hint of emotion. “Kill him.”

            “But my lord, he tried to warn us. We may still be in time.”

            “Do not question me, Brother.”

            “Yes, my lord.” The surgeon turned and went to the wounded soldier asking for his bag. He knelt down beside him and pulled out a jug. He lifted his head to the side to look at a wound in his neck. As the man relaxed, he stabbed the soldier with a small blade and held him there until life drained away. The jug was held next to the stable wound and collected the life blood. When he was done, he dropped the body as if it were a plank of wood and handed the jug to his assistant to put a stopper in. Randolph turned to Mortimer and the knight snapped to attention. 

            “When we are done here, kill that surgeon too. No one questions my orders.  Especially not in front of the men.  Bad form.”

            “Yes, Brother Randolph. Consider it done.” 

            Randolph sneered once more as he turned toward the town. He spurred his horse forward, bending into the stride as he led the charge.

 

*****

 

            Jan and Jadwiga kept poking the dead specters with poles, but it just stopped one while another moved forward. The Wallachian kept saying incantations and creating small shields that temporarily stopped them.  The boy kept rocking back and forth mumbling to himself. The horses were stopped and were shimmying back. The undead were closing in, the horses were panicking, and there was so much noise and motion that Jan felt sick from his head to his stomach. The boy flung his hands out and there was a bright light. Jan raised an arm to shield his eyes, but as the boy cried out, he swore he saw a blast of energy that sent the specters flying back. It stunned friends and foe alike, but the Wallachian and Jan recovered quickly and grabbed the reins blindly and got the horses moving and across the water to the other bank before the undead could recover. In the deeper areas of the water, the mermen watched with disappointment and they went back beneath the surface. Slowly, the dead specters sank back where they came from and the waters were calm again.

 

*****

 

            The town was still some distance away when they encountered a group of the strange fish people. By the looks on their faces, they were just as surprised to see the brothers as the brothers to find them here.  Randolph felt the hatred tighten in his gut as he saw the weapons they were brandishing.  Fools,

            “Let us pass.”

            The knights just stood there, stone faced, not understanding the man. 

            “We need to go after the strangers.”

            Still, the knight stared at the strange people and did not say anything. Then a sneer formed as he raised one hand, causing arrows to fly from the treeline, knocking village men off of their horses. The fish-people stared in confusion, but the knights charged in, slashing them down. 

            Most of the people were still by the stone slab, with blood running off it. There were bodies floating away in the water that could not be determined. 

            Neither man, women, or the small emaciated children were spared the knights’ wrath. Those within sword length were cut down quickly.  Those that evaded the knights were hunted by the foot soldiers. Torches suddenly appeared and soon the buildings were ablaze. Before long, the whole place was a burning inferno; smoke and embers flew everywhere combined with flames and screams. It was a frenzied hell. There was no thought of plunder, no actions against civilians, just death. Soon the sandy ground and lagoon were awash in blood. 

            Brother Mortimer was covered in blood and gore as he rode up to Brother Randolph. “The men were upset because there was nothing of value in the village. The people were could not be sold as slave and the women were ugly. When they are done this place will have never existed.”

            Brother Randolph turned to him and raised his visor, squinting as the sun was setting. “What was that man saying? Not that it mattered; it was probably a lie.”

            Brother Mortimer screwed up his face and thought. “I don’t know. I have never gotten the hang of that language. Our translator seems to have been killed. It just doesn’t matter. They are not worth worrying about.” Then the brother just trailed off and looked out on the bodies floating in the lagoon. “We didn’t find anything in their possessions. Maybe it was never there or these animals buried it.”

            “The commander was quite adamant on the artifact and the spies. We need to come back with something.” Then the knight turned his horse and rode along the water’s edge. 

 

*****

 

            Along the river, back in the reeds a small boy lay still. He was the only one who was still alive from his village. He was hurt, having been slashed by one of the men-at-arms, but he laid still as he was taught and knew that the Eldar Gods would watch over and protect him until he was strong enough to take his own revenge, and hopefully ascend.

 

*****

 

            The wagon started to slow down after about a mile or so. The horses and passengers were tired and dripping with sweat alike, but for different reasons. David dropped the reins and the horse just meandered on the path as the passengers slumped down in the wagon. As far as the Wallachian could tell, they were heading in the right direction, going west. 

            “It seems we were both a part of the Grand Duke’s plan.”

            “So it seems.  Did he alert you about us?”

            “No, my friends. He did not.” There was a silence between them as they moved along. “My name is Georg. I was born in Constantinople and escaped during the slaughter when it fell. I claim to be Wallachian to keep people from questioning me too much. I was preparing a group of trained fools when the city fell. I wanted to forestall this day, to open the gate, but I was too late. Now fifty years later we are here, but we are not safe.”

            There was the possibility of bandits, slavers, Teutonic Knights, and wild animals that could stop them, but they needed to keep going to Starybogow. The sun started setting and soon they would be in the dark; probably best to make camp in a hollow and hope for the best, but then they saw the fairy lights and for a second they knew they were safe.