Hawkmoon (The Hawkmoon Chronicles) (19 page)

“We  seek shelter and food if you can spare it. We will pay and we mean no harm”

“Best not to stop here, sir. You may die in the blizzard but you will surely die here for we have the Red Plague”Bekter recoiled from the door. The man, was young, made old by care and sickness. He started to close the door. Hawkmoon put his hand against it and went inside. After a moment Bekter followed. The fire threw light across a shape huddled in blankets near the hearth.. Hawkmoon knelt  and pulled  back the covers to find a young woman with a baby held close, skin  streaming with perspiration . He lifted her arms   to find  swellings in the armpits.  The child was coughing. “I thank you for your kindness but you should have stayed outside”

“You are well away from people here. How did you get this? Hawkmoon asked

“The others said it was a curse from the old witch up in the canyon . Not that it matters. They are dead and so will we soon enough”

“Get up and fetch clean water”

The man looked at Hawkmoon.“For what, man, we will be dead by tomorrow”

“Do as you are told” said Bekter.

Wrestling the door, that was sticking in the cold he went outside  with a bucket. Taking a Jade crystal from his coat Hawkmoon knelt by them. Placing it on her forehead he whispered. The crystal began to glow. The storm howled around the cabin. Icy blasts followed the young man when he returned. Seeing Hawkmoon kneeling by his wife he started to go forward but Bekter held him.  Red colours lit the shadows .The girl moaned  slipping into  a deep sleep.. He lifted the child to his lap and placed  the crystal  on its chest .The man  had sores on his arms .  By the time Hawkmoon was  finished the crystal  was spent.

“Sleep while your body recovers.  .”

They found a larder well stocked with dried fruit and vegetables. There was half a roast chicken and some ale. Hawkmoon and Bekter sat to fill their stomachs.. “Useful things, those crystals. Where did you get them?”

“On my travels.”

Years back, on the road to  Carlis they came to a village of sick people. They spent a week, Hawkmoon  going from house to house    while  Bekter dug graves for the others. When the crystals ran low Hawkmoon bled himself to charge them.

They were gone a day’s ride when a troop of lancers  came up . The priest with  them insisted on  their arrest. They would be  taken to Carlis and lodged in the town gaol, pending  trial and execution for sorcery. Bekter bribed  a guard to get word to the Rangers …

Bekter regarded Hawkmoon.  He never slept indoors . Wandering  about  in that wagon like a vagrant gypsy; the joker with the ready smile and a wink to the pretty girls. The centre of attention in taverns and bars from  Lorelei to the Ester Sea;singer of songs, teller of tales. Men with drink in them would  contradict him, provoke him, try to get him to fight . Hawkmoon would laugh and buy them whiskey or failing that,walk away. When they got home they would boast  to their wives how  they had  faced the greatest  killer in the Land ….

The storm began to ease as dawn pushed  weak  light through the shutters.. The girl  was sleeping,  arms around her child.  The man’s  name was Haran. In the morning he brought a sack of flour , a round of cheese, cured ham  and a cask of drink made from milk and   honey. The task of transporting  the provisions was solved  when the villager  returned with  three  ponies and a steeldust gelding. Their owners would have no further use of them.

They   helped bury the dead leaving some   unburied at both entrances  to the village .Reivers would give the place a wide berth. Next day the sun rose bright and hard. The paths were muddy around the village but clean where the desert resumed.

Haran brought them snowshoes and a thick coat for Hawkmoon. “We owe you our  lives. The angels  must surely have sent you.”

“What will you do? you have lost too many to defend the place”Hawkmoon asked.

Haran shrugged, “We have stores to last a couple of months. There is a stream back of the canyon. There is gold in it, enough for a fresh start. I went up last summer  with the fleece of two rams. I weighted them in the current. By now they will be heavy with gold. Old Muller said he found the motherlode. The problem is the bitch that lives in the caves. The way she sees it, it belongs to her”

“We are going to call on her.  We will explain that you are leaving   her one of the fleeces when you go. Is that agreed?”

“It is”

“Wait a week days before coming  for the gold. When you get to the Royal City look for Obod .” ” Hawkmoon  gave the villager a copper  disc.  Leave the gold with him. He  will give you a fair price.. Keep your mouth shut about the gold and  deal with no one but Obod”

                                                           The  Old Biddy.

They reached the canyon on the afternoon of the fourth day. The terrain dipped over a rock basin holding a freshwater lake. A wind funnelled past racing into the narrows As the walls tightened  the wind   gathered speed. A weird moaning came  from  ahead. Turning their collars  they  bent forward, huddled over the necks of the horses.. The wind  rose   higher, the  sounds from ahead  changing from moans to screaming. Bekter’s pony shied, crabbing to the left. The screaming became   a discordant choir. They rounded a sidewall  to  a dead end; the screams rising in pitch beyond the limits of hearing. Through flying dust they caught glimpses of shapes moving in the half light.. As they approached   they could  make out  figures impaled on stake posts. One was an Elf, skin flensed  from a  white skull. Their ears ached.  A  figure came from an opening in the rock behind. It shambled, bent over a long staff. The staff  rose and the wind fell.

“You may enter Deathwalker. The other stays outside”

“He goes where I go”

“I doubt that “she cackled. Bekter dismounted, his legs shaking.

Standing near Hawkmoon muttered“Show no fear, with this one.”Bekter wondered who had impaled them. On second thoughts it was better not to know. Their skulls were carved like flutes. The air came through the skull and moaned as it exited. The stronger the wind the louder the music ... Prodding the flames with a black tongs, she squatted by a smoking fire. 

“So, you offer people my gold, how generous of you”

“They will leave and you will have the place to yourself “

“They can leave with their lives.”

“I made a promise; don’t make a liar of me”

“It is my gold”

Hawkmoon shrugged. “I can follow the stream back into the mountain until I find the main lode. When I get back I will put the word around of gold on Tarsis. You can terrify a few villagers. How will you deal with an army of miners? Gold makes men brave. The first peep out of you and you would be sitting on one of those stakes.

“Do not threaten  me Hawkmoon. I might take your head.”

Hawkmoon    gave  Bekter a cheroot and put another to the flame.“Worse than you have tried old one. They are in the Void contemplating their foolishness. He propped the axe   against a rock. “The goldfield will be the property of the Queen of the Dasatii” War is coming and she needs money.  She will station a regiment here  to protect her interest.  She will pay you a commission on every ounce taken from these mountains. You will be wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice. ”

“Is that your offer?”

“It is the best you are likely to get. If you refuse I will put the word out.  The miners will come, and the brigands. So much lawlessness; the Queen will have no choice but to send a force to keep order”

“You’re a bigger rogue than the rest of them”

The cave was warm from the fire. A stack of dry timber stood beside it.  The rear of the cave  was cordoned  with   furs and animal hide.. Underfoot was dry sand The wall had  cracks and small fissures.  . The smoke of the fire  disappeared into cracks higher up. Hobbling to the back of the cave , she returned with an earthenware jar.

“I took the fleeces out last week.”

“I don’t want harm to come to them. Swear that you will do as you promise”

“Hawkmoon, what could I swear by that you would trust?”

Unwrapping the leather ties around the axe he lifted it.”You  can swear by this”

The old one stumbled back, bare feet scuffling in the dust of the floor. A stone caught her heel and she  sat  down hard “ You brought that thing here. Where did you find it?”

“It found me.”

“He will  have his gold and leave unmolested. I swear it”

“Give me your hand” She looked at Hawkmoon, not moving. Her face was thin, the skin tight with hunger. The eyes were large. They could have been beautiful once. Now they glittered with fear and malice. She got to her feet. For a moment it looked as if she might bolt from the cave. Bekter tensed, ready to block her. Ignoring him she went to Hawkmoon , holding out her hand. He took it and pressed a finger to the  blade. Blood trickled and the firelight  began to fade..  Screams came from  the air around them “Bring no harm to those people. Help us in our quest”The old one hissed .She nodded her head.“Say the words”

“I will not harm them. They may have the gold. I will help how I can”

“Take it to them. They will be easy to find.”

Bekter went out for provisions. Shivering in the wind  he found himself wondering what roads Hawkmoon had taken in the years he had travelled alone. As much as he knew Hawkmoon  there were parts of his life that were  closed to him.. Where had he been? What had he seen and done? He spoke to  sorcerers like they were dogs to be called to heel. How far had he gone into the Dark? Was that why Shula feared him?

Hawkmoon came out to bring the horses to a   corral. There was water from a trickle off the rocks He took meal for the nosebags . “She has no food. Barely enough for herself. We will leave supplies.You can come inside”

“What is her name?”

“Once she was called  Aille.. Be careful ;she is spiteful  ”

When he went back the old lady took the food with a cackle and started to build the fire.“You’re a lucky man, Solomon Bekter ,a grand  wife.. Shula …. Is that her name? The first weeks carrying a child can be dangerous. And you gallivantin’ about the country like a slip of a lad with not a care in the world  I always says to Hawkmoon when he visits, Hawkmoon  I says settle down, get a good woman ….The children of Hawkmoon, now that would be a family. Don’t be goin’ about interferin’ in other peoples’ affairs. Moll says a rosary  for him every night...”

“Is she ill?” Bekter asked. In spite of the warning Bekter needed to know .Hawkmoon shook his head. “Probably the worry of it all don’t you know, the times that are in it and you away. I’m sure she understands…”

“How is she?”

“The morning sickness lasts all day, can’t keep a thing down, not even water.   The Queen comes by to see her. …There’s posh. Wanted to bring her up to the palace and have her cared for by her  doctors. She said no, she would stay at home. That handsome captain of  the Lancers is very helpful. Calls every day, he does. You don’t deserve her…. But then most men don’t” She shot a glance at Hawkmoon “There were food riots in the city last week”Her carriage was overturned…”

“That’s enough out of you” Hawkmoon pointed at her. “Any more and I will call the demon” 

They finished the meal in silence. “There are hunters before you and behind”

“We know that”

“It  has been years since Reivers came on Tarsis.  They must have great urgency. Do they know who it is they hunt?”

“Not yet”

“If they did they would send an army… The Reiver who took your head   would be given a duchy and a thousand slaves” She scratched an itch “…Their skulls make a wonderful sound… When will you reach the Elves.”

“A month, with the horses”

“Not with Reivers on your trail, you won’t. That is a Summer journey without the need to go round or fight your way through. You are deadly Hawkmoon and that one seems capable but you cannot get there in time.”

“In time for what?”

“Their King has called a Great Council.”The old one threw  on  more timber. “The Elves are an ancient race full of knowledge. But they are dying. They have been dying for centuries , so long a time that few are aware of their decline.  They walk in their forests writing poetry, singing to the hills and the rivers. They look down on my likes. Hypocrites; it was their pride that brought the Vampire. It was right to banish the shaman. It would have been better to kill him. But no, they had to make the grand gesture. Send them north where they became infected.  A curse on a land already cursed”

She poked at the embers, settling a black  kettle. “You do not like me much Hawkmoon.I am not that fond of myself, but I won’t stand to see the country overrun by Wampyrhh…With the blizzards and the Reivers you would do well to get there before Spring. The elves  might do  it but you’re no elf. “She poured  a dark wine made  from sloes collected in the wildwood.

.“ There was talk  that the Choke might be passable in the late spring. With   the water from snow melt it might  keep the worms  at bay long enough to cross. We need help to get there.The alternative is to go east through the Khanate, south to the Chian , take ship at Hanzhou and a six month voyage round the continent “

“We could be gone for years” ”Bekter looked sombre at the prospect. His wife would think him dead.

“There is a way” The old one said glancing slyly from the corner of her eye.

Hawkmoon looked at her .

I am not going to like this
. Bekter thought

“You must walk the Paths of the Dead”

“I have done so before .It has served me poorly. ”

“It will be different now you have the   Soulbiter..”

Aillie stood and walked to the screen at the back. Bekter  sat at Hawkmoon’s side.

“It’s a trap, you know it”

“When I get to Elfhome   I will have a troop sent to bring you in.”

“How long do you think I will last Hawkmoon ?. An hour after you leave she will have me on a stake.”Hawkmoon looked at his friend, desperate to spare him the Void.”

The truth of it could not be ignored. If she  brought no harm to his friend   she might contrive  a means of letting the Reivers find him.

"This will change you Bekter. No one goes through  what you are about to see  and returns the same.” The decision made they finished  eating.

The  witch led them to an inner gallery. A hole occupied most of the floor. Bekter stood on the edge.. With his foot he pushed at loose rubble. Several rocks slipped over the lip and fell into the pit. He waited but no sound came back.

“Stupid man. By the time they hit  bottom you will be gone and I will be left to deal with the results of your carelessness.” She looked at Hawkmoon“ Bring  the Soulbiter and lay it on the rock”.

She took water in a ladle and chanting, poured it on the blades. Steam rose in clouds of black smoke In a moment the damp of the cavern had turned to ice   The smoke took on form, taller than a man. Its head was that of a wild boar; the  body  a mass of scales. It stood upright on massive haunches the feet of which were triple toed.. Its forepaws were tipped  with talons.

“What is it you ask.”

“Don’t be coy. You were listening”

“The road has many enemies .They will seek your end and mine”

“Demon’s cannot be killed” Bekter interrupted. Soulbiter looked at him.

“Do not speak to it again.” Hawkmoon warned him.

Lifting a massive arm the  demon   pointed to  the granite. The rock began to shift . A circle formed, and expanded .. Stooping its massive head  it walked  into  darkness. Hawkmoon followed. Bekter stood, undecided .. A titter of laughter sent him forward. They had left her a goodly part of their supplies. Bringing an armful of wood from the side cave she built up  the fire.. The flames leapt up driving back the chill. The wind rose and with it the screaming.