Hawkmoon (The Hawkmoon Chronicles) (23 page)

Unless I call on you, never reveal your presence. Not to me , not to anyone. When I have need I will speak your name .Are we agreed.?”

“We are.”

People stared as he returned with the axe. He sat by the fire late in the evening waiting for an note from the King commanding him  to remove the axe from Elvish lands.

As he prepared for  bed a page delivered a  letter from the King. Expecting  it to be an order to leave with the axe he was surprised to receive a copy of a letter  written by his Queen.

Your Majesty.

It is a joy  to greet you and send our best wishes for your continued happiness. Warm relations of service and friendship have stood between our peoples for time out of mind. It is our dearest wish that it should ever be so. We received your gifts and your ambassador at our Coronation and were  pleased with both. We understand that you were in poor health at the time and appreciate that you  could not attend in person. We have enclosed certain items which will be of  interest to you. One in particular will concern you as it affects not only the   fate of your race but the peoples of the Land.

Included are certain documents related to  the work of Hattim al Jiddah. He was one of our foremost scientists with a particular interest in the Science of the Elders.  His fellow academics regarded al Jiddah as an adventurer. His life was not the safe existence those who occupy the halls of universities however  the man  was capable and brave. He took great risks and survived  hardships  to serve the Land and its people.

He recordsvthat on his wanderings he discovered a site  in which he found  evidence of an advanced civilization.. Events required him  leave before he could complete his research. The Wampyrh are known to possess a device which merges men and animals the most notable of which are the gliders they use to wreak violence across the Land. al Jiddah’s claims should not be dismissed.. We found the book at Witch’s Keep ,concealed in a larger volume. The main text is in an  Elvish script which  the  sisters  who specialise in  these matters, were unable to translate. The foreword is in Common Script  where he makes certain proposals. Some of what he has to say does not reflect favourably on the Elves.  The Elven Lord of that time made a grave error. Kings make  mistakes. And Queens.

Al Jiddah  was a man who stood high in your Councils, who knew many of your closely  guarded secrets yet he did not trust you; not because of your past errors but the ones you might commit  at some point in the future. .It had been our intention to bring the papers   to Elfhome and, through some strategy to secure your  promise to share the fruits of whatever you found ..

We are faced with a war of annihilation. Our allies are few and those we have, while valiant are small in number.  We cannot come to you though to gaze on the Long Valley would  be a great comfort . As a child we walked the woods of Elfhome ..

With this in mind we have decided to place the  book in your hands without prior commitment or promises on your behalf. We are resolved on this course for a number of reasons. Foremost is our conviction that the Elves are an honourable race, and will do all that honour requires. When war comes the Reivers will send an army against Elfhome. They have no particular animus against the Elves but their masters will insist. You must find a way to defend your homes while also securing the means to take on this quest and prosecute it to a successful conclusion. We are aware of the work you do in secret to defend the Land and its people. It is now the hour in which you must make an open declaration in support of the  forces that  oppose the Enemy. This cannot long be delayed.

Mira.

Queen of the Dasatii

                                                               Desolation

The meat would probably kill them but they were dead anyway. Someone got a fire going. Shel  got the brains . With luck they were diseased. The fur was thick. It would make good pelts to keep out the cold. Shame it had to be buried but if anyone saw it they would snitch and the bosses would know:

Where d’you get this, you filth?

What d’you do with the rest of it?

Is there any of it left?

Who helped you?

Questions asked with blows and kicks. They couldn’t get anyone to keep an eye out. It probably wouldn’t have done much good but they might have had a chance to make up a story. Pin it on Shel. Say it was his idea. Shel was a snitch. No one liked snitches.. They would be taken to the kitchens for the cook to look at them. Anyone with flesh on him would be flensed, made into a stew for the gliders. They loved their meat, the gliders. Blood, meat and fat mixed with oats kept them flying...

The best were gone for soldiers, the women   to warm the bed of a thrall. If she was especially toothsome she might catch the eye of a full blood..  Not that anything would ever warm them. What happened to the children didn’t bear thinking about.

Some were runaways from plantations down South. Come up here to get away from a hard life. A hard life…. Didn’t know they were born, that was their trouble.  Most were taken in the collections when villages paid the tithe. Word was , next year it would be every four months. Villages    were emptying. When they got to the city they faced anotherr set of problems but at least they were out of reach from the necksuckers. For now at least...The remains of the bear were taken to the kitchen. On the way they passed   the Guard’s Office . Someone high up had started asking for a list of all animals found dead. Seemed a bit excessive. It was only rotten meat. The bosses had plenty of the fresh kind.

An old man hobbled through the main gate. Huddled from the wind under layers of fur, his boots slapped on wet cobbles. He climbed the back stairs to his room. The key hung from a hook by the door. He hurried inside grateful for the heat that greeted him. The windows were narrow, painted black.  Barzum would rise shortly and he would have to be prepared.  He pottered about, making coffee, an indulgence permitted to him as well as meals in the kitchen, laundry, wood for the fire and books. He had lived up here so long home was a distant memory.

Cold  air touched the nape of his neck. He turned  and bowed to the vampire lord... In the North everything was dangerous. Snow,ice,wind, glaciers, hunger, disease, violence, anything could kill. It was more than physical danger that radiated from the figure that towered over him.  .“
Do not fear who kills the body, who kills the Soul is the true enemy
”

The lesser lordlings, liked the terror they inspired. The High Lord  was above all that. Not for him the whimpering of  women raped , the agony of fathers watching as their children were butchered.. He preferred the  anguish that came with the  end of hope.

Those who hated Barzum asked how he  and not another had become Lord of the Vampire nation. Some said it was his lineage. A direct descendant of Shabag, the blood of the founder ran in his veins. Vampires were no respecters of tradition. They laughed at stories about the vampire that could not control  its appetites  but they were all the same when it came to it. Put a human in a room with a vampire and tell him that if he waited until tomorrow night  he would have three even nicer. What would he do ? He would  feed. That was what made Barzum different. Barzum  would wait . The following night he would feed. To bind their loyalty  he would have one and give the others to his lieutenants.

“My Lord Barzum”He bowed low.  The years had rewarded him with the  self control required to live with monsters. No one had survived as long. But then he had a reason A spark gleamed in the depth of his being. At times the vampire looked  at him, a strange expression on its vulpine face.  In those moments, to his absolute terror, he thought the vampire had seen it. When that happened he struggled to control his thoughts. They smelt of carrion, even the females.

“Jorun, I trust the cold  is not a burden to those old bones.”

“No my Lord, My quarters are comfortable. I was out today to collect reports.”

“In relation to…?”

“I have been monitoring the migration of predators to the region.

“What have you learnt?”

“The polar ice is melting. Large predators are following their prey further North and staying for longer. It is a recent  pattern but one that portends significant change. The band of desert   at the planet’s Equator is enlarging by as much as thirty miles per year There are reports of increased Volcanism and  tidal waves have been sighted  in the Southern Ocean. I have agents scattered through  the leading Universities. There is a belief that the changes are linked to  problems with the sun”

“Why would such phenomena be linked to activity in our star?”

“Science and Magic seldom agree however both are in agreement that the  Sun and its planet affect and are affected by each other. Changes in one leads to change in all. Historically the experiments of the Elders were dismissed as  folklore. Recent times have seen research leading to a more considered view. They agree that the star is beginning a cycle which will end in what has been referred to as the  Dragon’s Breath.  It has occurred in ever narrowing cycles over millennia. Each time more devastating than the last. Those who support the theory that the Elders were somehow responsible point to there being no record of a similar event before their time.”

“Is there a date as to when we might anticipate this catastrophe?”

“All we are certain of is that the Dragon’s Breath is coming and that it will be worse than the last”

“Can the planet survive?”

“The planet will survive and in time life will return But Human life? They would have to exist in caves, possibly for centuries.”

“The Wampyrhii?”

Jorun hesitated .“You may speak freely”

“The Wampyrhii live on humans, dwarves , elves when they can get them. When they die the Wampyrhii will die. You are unnaturally long lived, but you are not immortal. The only means for the long term survival of the Vampire is that your parasite find a way to divest itself of you and take possession of a food source that would ensure its long term survival.”

Barzum weighed the old man in his gaze. “Up to this moment I did not appreciate how much  you hate us”

“I do not hate you, my Lord. I hate myself. I despise you and all your kind”

Barzum nodded.”I gave you permission to speak freely and you did…Know this, If you speak to  me  in that manner again I will visit upon you the nightmare you fear above all else. I will  bite you  and put you in  cell with a human  until the hunger  becomes so strong you cannot help yourself. You will feed and feeding your body will live but the last remnants of your  humanity will perish.”

Jorun  dropped his eyes. He cursed himself, railing at his display of emotion.  Would the monster suspect?. See an ulterior motive?  On the other hand perhaps a rare moment of defiance was the time to lay the trap. “There is one thing more”

“Speak”

“You pose the question. Is there nothing to be done? The best way to deal with catastrophe is to be elsewhere when it occurs.  We possess an item of theirs. Since we know it is  an artefact of the Elder Days it is possible that other items of their technology might exist.  The belief exists that the sun became unstable because of their experiments”

“I have walked the Land a hundred times you lifespan .  I have heard the story, but nothing to support it.?”

“All I am saying is that there are reports  of portals created by their scientists. We possess an item of Elder technology. We are entitled to consider that others might exist”

“Is it  a product of Magic or Science”

Jorun held up both hands. “Truly my Lord, in this case I wonder if there is a difference.”

Now was the moment to drop the hook. He was sure Barzum would sense his excitement. He could only hope that it would be mistaken for enthusiasm” I have been going over reports from an area in the Southlands, close to Witch’s Keep. Rumours persist of people leaving the area and never returning.. With your permission, I would like to send gliders to the area.”

“I will consider what you propose”.Dismissing the librarian Barzum sat thinking.

Other worlds . Where the vampire is  unknown.   They  would be for the taking. The peoples of the Land were not defenceless. Once perhaps when the vampire walked the night for the first time. But they had learned to fight.  The Reivers were immune, The Gypsies had the Dhampir, the Men of the West had the Rangers.

Since the time of  Unfication it was tradition for the new Khan to send an army of decimation against the Wampyrhii. The reason was to  discourage the vampires from contributing to the demise of his predecessor.. The vampires resisted with all the viciousness of their nature and thousands of tribesmen  died.  Yet the aeries would burn, their numbers sorely reduced. It had gotten to where the vampires greatest care was the continued  health and well being of the ruling khan. Spies were sent among the tribes alert for talk of treason. Malcontents disappeared, never to be seen again.  The ruler had the best  medical attention.  All paid for by the Wampyrhii. 

Guards came to attention as footsteps sounded on the stairs. The air was thick with smell of chemicals. The chambers spread in a series of tunnels, dormitories, kitchens and feeding stations. It took fresh water  from a lake above.  A gaunt  man  was standing by one of the vats talking to an apprentice. He noticed Barzum and hurried over.

“My Lord, this is unexpected….”

“Find somewhere we can talk”

“Certainly, my lord. The store rooms are empty. ” They walked past the vats. In one of them a form came to the surface. Bat shaped   with the face of a man.. Wings tipped with  vestigial limbs and feet. “You have served us well Kemp. Our gliders range further and carry more since you have been here.”The thrall bowed low. “Thank you my Lord . The work has been interesting, and we have had a measure of success”

“ Explain  how you were able to increase the size and strength of the fliers”

“I  could claim to have made a scientific breakthrough, my lord, in fact it was a case of improving the quality at every stage of production. If you step over here I can show you…”Kemp led Barzum  to a heavy safe .. With a key taken from a bunch at his belt he opened the safe and removed a wooden box, grimy and marked with age. He withdrew a   square shaped object the size of a man’s head.. Barzum touched it. Kemp pulled it away before he remembered himself. “Deepest apologies, my Lord, I am extremely protective of this. If anything happened to it there would be no more fliers It has operated for over a hundreds of  years. No one knows how it works, nor how to fix it if it ever stopped.”

“Do you know anything about it?”

“Quite a lot but little of use”.

“Where was it found?”

“It is said to have come from the Sandsea.  Its owner was captured . To convince his captors that  he would be kept alive he  took blood from a slave and mixed it with that of a vulture. He placed the mixture here” Kemp pointed to a receptacle in the device.  “And pressed here. He waited for several minutes before removing it and injecting it into the slave. He said that the slave should be immersed in warm water for several weeks. In the course of hours the slave began to change. His arms elongated and flattened. His feet became talons. His  back sprouted feathers. The face lost its human look and became birdlike. It died in extreme pain... Someone suggested bats and the results were astonishing. The more they were fed the better they became. One was brought out but escaped..

Because they were originally human it was speculated how much intelligence remained in the creature. It turned out to be little but enough to respond to commands. It took a month for them to grow to maturity... They were fitted with saddles and satchels for food. People died in the first attempts. Now they are used   for reconnaissance and spying. As with their riders, they stay hidden during daylight.

I have improved their performance by using the strongest and healthiest of the captives in the melding process. The vats are emptied and cleaned for every new flier. We have found that the better the food the stronger they are and the quicker they reach maturity. I am forbidden from altering the settings on the device. The old man never demonstrated how to use it. It was his guarantee that he be kept alive. If you give permission I can adjust the settings on the device to see what else can be achieved. I cannot guarantee that I can reset it to its original function.”

“How has it worked for all this time?”

Kemp opened a slot at the side.” This is a rock crystal. It is fully charged. When it is exhausted it is white. Like the Wampyrhii the makers were familiar with blood magic. We bleed slaves to keep it powered. The younger the blood the longer it lasts.”

“I am pleased with your progress and your dedication. You are the man for a special project I have in mind.  Before I discuss it, I warn you,  the smallest breach of confidence will cost your life. Am I clear?”

“My lord, I know how to keep a confidence. It is essential in this place... Knowing this, is there even the remotest prospect that I would betray your trust”