‘What?’ was my eloquent response.
‘That’s your name, isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ I said. I would never deny my own name. ‘How did you know that?’
‘I saw it,’ he said, pointing back at the tree he’d been tied to before tapping his head. ‘Heard it. In here.’
Now that was interesting. I had not felt any intrusion on my mind, but then perhaps I had not been as careful as I thought. ‘What else did you see?’
‘Some,’ he said, shifting closer so that none could overhear him. ‘Enough to know that you are quite the enigma.’
His heartbeat was steady, faster than Tatyana’s normally was, but not racing like one gripped by fear. His scent bore little trace of it either, but instead carried a strange, almost floral spice to it.
‘We all have our secrets,’ I said.
‘That is true. But you, I think, have more than most.’ He rubbed the bristles that covered his jaw. ‘Stratus Firesky. I have heard your name before, yet I cannot remember the where or how of it,’ he said.
I felt a small thrill pass through me. It was good to be remembered, even in such a threadbare way. ‘It is an old name,’ I said.
‘Names have a power of their own, don’t you think?’
‘Indeed they do. What do you want of me, Leopold son of Sigmund?’
He masked his flinch well, and someone without my keen senses may well have missed it. ‘You are a wizard, but unlike any I have encountered.’
‘I think that much is obvious.’ I clicked my nails together as I waited for him to continue.
‘May I speak plainly?’ he asked.
‘Please do,’ I replied, the words lisping through my jutting teeth.
‘Your appearance is at odds with your deeds, and in other circumstances I fear our meeting would have been less friendly. Some of my brothers are struggling with this contrast, and only your kindness holds them back.’
‘I thought you were going to speak plainly,’ I said, looking past him to where perhaps half of the paladins were sitting and doing things to the weapons and armour they had stripped from the still smoking dead.
‘I am not a wizard,’ I said. Was it for the hundredth time? ‘I am not a man either, but I sense you already knew that.’
He nodded. I had thought as much, for to glean my name from my thoughts was no accidental impression or moment of opportunity. It spoke of an education in such matters, and one that was more diligent than anything I’d encountered in the wizards whose minds I had looted on my path here.
‘And your brothers will not lift a hand against me without your command, so do not insult my intelligence with clumsy attempts at flattery or intimidation. I have had my fill of both.’
His mouth straightened like a rope pulled taut, and when he spoke, his voice had lost its honeyed warmth, the soft tones hardening into something that may have intimidated a lesser mind.
‘Very well then, Stratus Firesky. Why are you here, in these accursed lands? You have the miscast look of a demon about you. Why did you heal me and break our chains? Who are you? What are you?’ He leaned closer. ‘You will tell me. Now.’
There was a suggestion laced into his words, a hint of their magics. I gave a short laugh, the sound unpleasant even to my ears.
‘So, this is how you would treat one you say was sent by your god? These are dark days indeed if a life debt is so quickly cast aside in favour of threats and parlour tricks.’ I looked to the men behind him, then back again. ‘I had hoped that you were men of honour, but it seems you have cast that aside and are content to live as oath breakers and thieves.’
It was the most potent insult I could think of for a paladin, and he recoiled as if struck.
‘Our vows are unbroken. Our honour is our life.’ A chorus of agreement rose from the men who were conveniently sat within earshot. He made to stand, but then sat down again, his heartbeat steadily slowing as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
‘I apologise,’ he said after a while. ‘My words were hasty, and ill chosen. I fear this trial has taken its toll on me. On us.’
An idea kindled in my mind, and I put aside the carefully barbed insult I had been preparing. ‘I too have been a prisoner at their hands. It is easy to lose sight of hope.’
His knuckles whitened. ‘That it is. When our brothers fell, we let despair poison our faith. It has been hard to rebuild that what was lost.’
‘I had no faith to sustain me, only anger.’
He looked up at me. ‘We have that too.’
‘Would you avenge your brothers?’ I asked, leaning forward.
He bared his teeth. ‘We would die for the chance.’
‘Then perhaps your god has set me upon your path,’ I said, hauling myself to my feet. ‘Come. There’s someone you should meet.’
I didn’t need to look to know they were following me as I turned back towards the house, my smile hidden by the darkness.
Tatyana was waiting for me just outside the courtyard, hidden from sight but not from my nose.
‘They’re friends,’ I said as I stepped inside. ‘Paladin friends.’
She stood up where she had been hiding behind a mostly collapsed wall, sword in hand, and walked over to me, although her eyes were solely on my dozen new companions.
‘What the Hel is this?’ she said, finally looking at me.
‘Leopold, son of Sigmund. He’s a paladin, and these are his brothers. In arms, not by blood.’
‘My lady,’ said Leopold, bowing low.
‘Sir Leopold,’ she said, inclining her head. She stepped forward and stared at him as he straightened. ‘Leopold Sigmundsson? From Skeln?’
He straightened at this and looked at her with narrowed eyes. ‘Yes, my lady. How did you know that?’
‘My father ran the chapter-house at Balfont.’
‘Balfont?’ His hand rasped across his cheeks. ‘That was Gerhard Henkman. You must be Tatyana Henkman! It is an honour to meet you,’ he said, bowing again. ‘Master Rawlings spoke highly of you.’
‘He was too kind.’
‘Then we’re not talking about the same fencing master.’
They both laughed at that and the other paladins, who had formed a half circle around us, came closer and introduced themselves to her, something they hadn’t bothered to do with me, which was almost hurtful, even if the gesture would have been wasted on me. I left them to it and circled around to the far side of the property where their scent didn’t overwhelm everything, and took some time to taste the air. Dawn wasn’t far off and I wanted some idea of what lay before us.
I found a sheltered spot downwind from the corpses and made myself comfortable, closing my eyes. I drew a measure of power to myself and began preparing the same scrying spell I had used at Falkenburg, taking care to include an extra thread that would warn me if I strayed too close to an active ward. The lurch of my perception detaching itself from my physical body wasn’t as harsh this time, more of a falling sensation before I floated free. I looked down at myself and saw what Leopold and the others saw for the first time; a large, hunchbacked figure in a tattered cloak with claws for hands and a fanged nightmare for a mouth. I hadn’t appreciated how much restraint Leopold must have summoned to talk to me so calmly, and resolved to try to like him more.
I turned away and let my perception rise like an invisible bird. The landscape was brittle and unwelcoming below me, seemingly one harsh summer away from giving up all hope and becoming a desert. I rose higher and began to swoop forward, first with great caution and then with greater speed when I saw no signs of life or movement. I was perhaps ten miles from where my body lay when I saw the patrol.
They were camped on top of a small butte that time and weather had smoothed to a mere bump in the landscape. I counted thirty men as I circled it, and perhaps twice as many ghouls, most of them arrayed around the camp as a makeshift wall. I pressed in closer and caught a glimpse of orange robes, and approached more carefully. He was the only wizard there though, and if my understanding of their ranks was correct, he wasn’t particularly strong. I couldn’t even sense any wards on him, much less the camp.
I drifted away, rising higher as I did, until I had my first glimpse of Aknak. Like Falkenburg, it had been built upon natural high ground, but much of it was shrouded in a pearlescent mist that defied the risen sun. I didn’t like the look of that at all, but it was without doubt the city we sought. The foot of the hill it sat on was a sprawling mass of tents and buildings marked with countless flags, and beyond this lay rank upon rank of tents and pens holding livestock, horses, and what could have been prisoners or simply more ghouls. I moved forward, but even this far from it I could feel a trembling in the Songlines, a low level distortion that forced me to concentrate that much harder on maintaining the structure of the scrying construct. I dared to press in further and that same trembling soon began to take on a vague pattern, nothing I could identify for certain but most likely a ward of some sort from how uncomfortable it made me feel. I pulled back, aghast at how much power it would take to cast, let alone maintain, such a large perimeter.
I swooped lower and studied the ground, noting the gullies and cracks, mentally marking the paths, all while quietly enjoying the simulation of flying that it offered. The temptation to do it over and over again was strong, but I didn’t want to risk it this close to what was most likely a nest full of necromancers, so reluctantly turned and sailed back to my body.
I lingered above it, noting that a paladin sat nearby, watching both me and the lands beyond. Or perhaps he’d simply come to watch the sunrise. Curious, I floated past him and towards the house and pushed in through a gap in the rafters, from where I could peer down on Leopold and Tatyana as they squatted next to a crude map drawn in the ashes. The remaining paladins were either sleeping or praying, the sound of their chanting less annoying than I had imagined. They were talking about water and distance, which was entirely too boring for me to waste energy on.
I returned to my body and woke with a groan as the flesh closed around my spirit once more, the accumulated aches and pains flooding into my head anew. I pushed myself to a seated position, spat to clear my mouth and offered the paladin a quick nod of thanks.
‘The land is clear for ten miles around,’ I said. ‘There’s nothing, not even a mouse.’
‘It’s the rain,’ he said unexpectedly.
‘The rain?’
‘It’s come twice since we were captured. There’s a foulness to it that poisons smaller creatures caught by it. I’ve seen them wither and die myself.’
‘Interesting.’ I paused as I was about to pass him. ‘Are any of the men here from Kenwin?’
‘No,’ he said, not bothering to look at me. ‘We’re all from the north.’
‘Good,’ I said, choosing not to add that means I don’t have to kill you all.
Tatyana stood as I entered the house and squeezed my arm. ‘Sorry I snapped at you,’ she whispered, then sat back down.
‘Apology accepted.’
‘We’ve been considering our options,’ Leopold said, glancing at her as he did. ‘Although the truth is, there aren’t that many. We’re surrounded by enemy territory, with no provisions and a handful of weapons amongst us.’
‘Water will be crucial too,’ I added, and Leopold nodded his agreement.
‘Exactly right.’
‘My point remains,’ said Tatyana. ‘I’ve been trying to impress upon Leopold that we’re not here as an army. We’re here to get inside Aknak.’
He crossed his arms. ‘And how are we going to accomplish that with no food, no water, no—’
‘For the last time, there is no we here,’ she said.
I peered at their crude map and scratched an X into the ash. ‘There’s a substantial Penullin patrol here, perhaps three hours on foot. Thirty soldiers and fifty ghouls, with a single wizard, mostly likely a necromancer assigned to herd the ghouls.’
‘Are they coming this way?’ she asked.
‘No, but they have plenty of swords and food.’
‘You’re not serious,’ said Leopold. ‘We don’t have the numbers or gear.’
‘But we have him,’ said Tatyana with a flash of teeth.