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“Those awful Turned are in the tower. Every now and then we hear screams coming from the doomed Neverens locked inside with them. It curdles my blood.”
I woke to hear Ordesky talking. Evin was in the room with him. Seeing me awake they both poured over me, checked my pulse, touched my forehead with the backs of their hands. Smidgen had carried me all the way from The Eagle and the Rose to The Fortune of War.
“I’m fine,” I huffed, kicking the covers off the cot and I stood up and swooned. Ordesky rushed to support me but I gestured him away. I didn’t like to be fussed over. Unless it was by a warren. “I’m fine. It’ll pass.”
“Drawn says Hoolivard could’ve pinched your head off.”
“Didn’t though did he. Where is Drawn?”
“Downstairs with Smidgen. They seem to be getting on like old friends. Hard to believe they’ve only just met.”
Suddenly I remembered that I was angry. “Where’s Bent?” I demanded. I struggled into my old blue coat.
Evin shrugged. “I don’t know about that, but we have other things to discuss,” she said.
“Not now Evin, I want Bent.”
“Me agreeing to help don’t include letting the Sheriff of the watch inside The Fortune of War. He’s been snooping. Looking where he shouldn’t.”
“Not now Evin.”
“Hey, it’s your stuff I’m hiding here.”
“South gate,” said Ordesky, opening the door. He didn’t need to hear me and Evin argue. “Nice saw him heading for the south gate.”
“Was he with anyone else?”
A shrug from Ordesky this time, “Don’t know, why?”
Evin was still moaning about the law and her voice trilled in the background, irritatingly.
“He’s killed the Neverens,” I said and, finally, she shut up. Ordesky let the door snap shut with a bang.
“Tambroite Manor is rife with their bodies. Every single one of them is dead. The place beyond the gates is full of red cloaks; torn, tattered, lifeless.”
“Dead,” Evin echoed, disbelieving that it could be so.
Ordesky frowned. “This can’t be. Why would he kill them all? This can’t be.”
“Because he works for The Golem of the South, so find him Ordesky and bring him back here. Get everyone on it. He’s got to be stopped before he can do more damage.”
“With the Neverens dead who’ll protect us from the Turned in the tower?” Evin asked, sitting dumbfounded on my cot. Suddenly moaning about Bannin seemed a triviality. It certainly was.
“It’s down to us. It’s all down to us.” I breathed deeply, touched a tentative couple of fingers to the rawness around my throat. “I’m more worried about Bent,” I said, croakily. “He killed five hundred soldiers. He’s more dangerous than that thing in The Eagle and the Rose.” I rubbed at the crimson line on my neck. That thing in The Eagle and the Rose had almost finished me but thanks to Smidgen’s timely arrival, it hadn’t. My head still hurt though, so too my throat. Oh for some ice cold water to drink. I felt hot, like I was burning up.
An excited Rauper burst through the door. “There’s a fight,” he spat. He looked at me, then Ordesky and then at Evin.
“Is it Smidgen?” Typical if it was. Trouble followed him around like flies to shit.
Rauper shook his head. “It’s outside the south gate,” he blustered. “You’re not going to believe this.”
“South gate? Bent was heading that way.”
“It’s not Bent. It’s The Green Man. He’s hitting the Golem, giving him a right old seeing to by the looks of it.”
“Hunger’s here?” My heart began to race and pounded in my chest like a wild thing. Suddenly I felt more awake than I have ever experienced before. The Golem was finally here, at the city. I couldn’t believe it. He was finally at Never. I felt weak, felt like sitting down next to Evin and giving up and hiding but I forced myself to remain standing, to look unfazed. Now was the time for strength. I had to kill the Golem if I wanted any semblance of my old life back. I had to. I really felt sick. My chest was pounding like my head was. I was going to be sick.
“Yeah,” Rauper sounded mad, “The Tracker’s outside the gates, only The Green Man is barring him. He’s not letting him in.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Come on,” Rauper shouted and we all followed him out of the room. Our feet thundering like collective hooves as we hacked it down the stairs.
We picked up Smidgen and Drawn on our way and left The Fortune of War for the south wall. In no order we hurried up the battlement steps but couldn’t see much. I heard the smack and rumble of big punches being exchanged and the crisp crack of The Green Man’s branches being snapped off. One was thrown over the wall towards us and we ducked just in time to miss it.
“Perhaps we should help him,” I suggested, thinking aloud. I looked around, could see no signs of the Turned Bannin had forced back over the walls. They would be around somewhere, as sure as night followed day. Watching. Waiting.
“No gods damn way,” Ordesky touched his groin out of respect for the gods. “I’m not getting between those two.”
“Three,” said Drawn. “Hunger never travels without his hat; Cuncairn the hunch-hound. It is a witch from the deep south. It is the Golem’s master.”
The situation just kept getting worse. Now we’d a witch to kill too. I’d forgotten about the witch. “Two against one. It hardly seems fair.” Damn my sense of equality in all things. All thanks to Smidgen’s brainwashing that was.
“You’re forgetting Bent. Wasn’t he heading that way when last seen?”
Ordesky was right. “So it could be three against one.” I mused. No doubt this witch was Bent’s master too.
“No, it’s two against two,” as Smidgen pointed down and we all saw Bent. The dark cloud was dragging The Green Man away from the wall, dragging him to safety.
“Bent,” I yelled down at him and he stopped and turned towards us. The six of us stood along the wall like skittles ready for a tumble and he must’ve wondered as to our intention for he hesitated, and in that fleeting second of uncertainty the Tracker hit The Green Man. I heard the sound of snapping wood and The Green Man unleashed a pitiful howl full of tremendous pain and agony and franticly Bent pulled at the broken Turned and tried to get him away, to get him back to safety.
The Green Man writhed every root, barbed branch and earthy tassel and thus for every backward step Bent took he managed to keep Hat at bay.
Then the evil thing spied a gap in the twirling branches and propelled itself full force towards Bent and I thought it would hit.
Smidgen took a step towards the edge of the wall and I threw an arm out to stop him. “Don’t do it, Smidge’, don’t bloody well do it.”
But he looked at me and smiled and his face wrinkled up like it always did. “He’s my friend, Flendin.”
“He killed the Neverens, every one of them.”
“He’s still my friend.” And with that he stepped off the wall and I watched as he fell to the ground. It was a long drop but he was a big man and he landed without injury. Four massive steps and he was upon Bent and The Green Man and he swung his mace just as Hat drew close.
I’d never seen a hit like it and Hat travelled at a speed a galloping horse would struggle to beat. It zipped across my line of sight and must’ve hit the city wall for more masonry collapsed amidst clouds of choking dust. Hat dazed or killed I didn’t know, but Hunger was mad with anger and he brought his fists down on the southern planet-stone and a stomach-churning bang vibrated throughout the city. The deafening acoustics physically affected everything and everyone.
My legs shook where I stood and nearby windows shattered, belching out their lethal shrapnel. Evin covered her ears and crouched low to avoid the resonance and flying glass and with mounting doom I realised that the stone would give from another powerful hit like that.
“One more hit like that and he’ll be in the city,” I warned and Ordesky was already off down the steps and heading towards The Fortune of War.
A boom shot through the streets as the planet-stone finally exploded and Hunger took his first earth trembling step into Never.
“What of the General?” Drawn wondered.
“They don’t need help now,” I said meaning Bent and Smidgen and The Green Man. “But we do.”
I ran from the southern wall and hurried down some steps. I started to climb the side of The Fortune of War and jumped onto the semi-circular roof of The Moss and watched the Tracker’s passage into the city.
His path was straight as a canal and he was heading towards The Eagle and the Rose tower. Hat was upon his head; only it had a distinctive dent in its side now thanks to Smidgen and his mace.
Boom, he took a slothful step forward and a long minute later, boom, he took another and all the streets shook with his pounding footfalls. Opportunistic Turned stole into the city behind the Golem. They spread out, disappeared down dingy alleyways.
“We have time to conceive a plan,” I said in relation to the slow speed the Golem walked at. “But I don’t know what we can do.”
“Can we do nothing for the poor souls inside the tower?” Nice asked. He, Rauper and Evin had made it onto a nearby rooftop. Drawn sidled close to me on the roof of The Moss. He liked being close to me. Should I be worried?
“It’s council we need. We should summon Sheriff Bannin and meet in my tavern.”
“I thought you didn’t want him in there?” I was quick to mirror Evin’s earlier petty complaint.
“I don’t but this is exceptional circumstance.”
“We could talk but talking isn’t going to help those trapped in the tower.”
“We can do nothing for them,” I said grimly. “They’re dead, or worse. We forget about the tower, Nice.”
“Then we’ve truly lost all the Neverens,” Nice mumbled mournfully into his chest.
“Yes, and we have Bent to thank for that.”
“Berate Bent as much as you want, Flendin, I don’t care, he scares the hell out of me, but we have decisions to make. Do we go after the Tracker now, before he reaches the tower or do we hold council and hope someone comes up with a better plan?” Evin was talking but I wasn’t listening. My attention travelled back to the Golem. How to stop such a thing?
Some of the Watch appeared from nowhere, fired arrows into the slow moving target that was Hunger. The fools, I thought. Not so close.
Hat had enough fight left in it to eat a few of them until someone with sense called the rest back before they all perished. With what looked like disappointment, Hat crawled back upon the Golem’s head, his killing spree spoilt.
Then Smidgen came from the shattered southern planet-stone and charged at the Tracker. He roared, swinging his mace overhead and from left hand to right.
“No,” I screamed down to him, not knowing if he could hear me. “Come back Smidgen, come back.”
Smidgen hit the Golem and it sounded like a hammer hitting a bell, only it was deep, its tone affecting the teeth in my mouth, making the skin of my scalp itch and crawl. He hit it again, then again and for every strike the noise was magnified until all of us covered our ears and screamed at him to stop.
Hat leapt down a second time from the Golem’s head and smothered Smidgen, gobbled him up whole. Its sides bulged outwards as it struggled to contain all of him.
I lurched forward in a panic, almost lost my balance on the roof of The Moss. The witch had Smidgen and the bag. I had to do something, but what?
I watched as Smidgen struggled free and turning the tables, snapped open his jaws and shovelled Hat in his mouth.
I willed him to chomp down and break it but before I could say anything Hat spilled out and Smidgen chased it around the slamming feet of the Golem.
He scooped it up in his mouth again only for Hat to wobbled free again. Then he had it in his mouth for a third time and this time he bit down hard.
The whole world seemed to stop in that moment.
The Golem stopped walking, mid step, and I turned to look up at Drawn hoping Smidgen had done for both of them and to see such validation in his dark, deep eyes.
“If he’s killed Hat the other Witches will not be happy,” cautioned Drawn. “There will be repercussions.”
Suddenly a bang and the sound of a thousand pots breaking simultaneously and when I next looked Smidgen had swung his mace at the head of the Golem and shattered it.
I couldn’t believe it. The Tracker had terrorised the northern lands for hundreds of years, was a figure of dread lore, and now it had no head.
“Has he broken the Golem?” I wondered. Not daring to believe that he could’ve.
“I don’t know,” said Drawn. “We should do something. Bind him with rope, thousands of lengths of rope. Secure him to the ground. Send men out to hit him with anything they can find. Shovels, logs, swords and shields. Break him up now.”
“Rauper, Nice, get the Sheriff. Get people out of their homes. I want everyone down there hitting that thing.... No, wait, it’s moving again. The bloody thing is moving.”
Despite being headless, the Golem took a defiant step and resumed its course. It continued towards The Eagle and the Rose and my heart, like a thousand others in the city, sunk back into despair.
Smidgen had done well but it wasn’t enough. I turned to my friends standing on the other rooftop, “We can’t defend all four quarters. There’re not enough of us and the area is just too big.”
“What do you suggest then?” Rauper piped up, irritated at our dire situation.
I took a deep breath. “We should consolidate,” I said, my tone mimicking that of Rauper’s pessimism. “We should move everyone into an area, say Old Quarter, and concentrate on protecting just that.”
“And then what?” Rauper showed some anger towards me. I could forgive him for he was just scared and confused like the rest of us.
“Then he’ll come for me,” I said and the city shook with another inexorable rumble. “He’ll come for the bag.”