Inheritance (31 page)

“And hides dark things, Ager,” Lynan reminded him.

They found a space among the trees which, if not large enough to be called a clearing, at least allowed in some light and made them feel less closed in by the forest. They gathered as much wood and tinder as possible and started a large fire.

Kumul arranged the watch. “From what Roheth told me, this demon usually comes in the hours before dawn, so I’d rather Ager or myself faced it. You take the first watch Jenrosa, followed by Lynan, then Ager, and lastly myself.”

“What will you do if it comes?” Jenrosa asked him.

“Cut its bloody head off,” he said grimly.

The forest was completely still. No animal came snuffling at the perimeter of their camp, no wind moved among the trees, no insects called out in the night. Lynan sat as closely as possible to the fire without risking his forester’s coat catching alight. He turned constantly, peering into the dark. Whenever a log cracked in the fire, he jumped and then cursed his own cowardice.

Time stretched until seconds seemed like minutes and minutes seemed like hours. Lynan wondered if he would ever be relieved from the watch. Perhaps Silona was sorceress as well as vampire and had frozen time until she could find the mind she had touched so softly the night before.

Twice before, he told himself, remembering those green eyes in the forest.

When at last Ager did rouse himself from sleep, stretching like a misshapen bear and grinning like a child waking on its birthday, Lynan felt so much relief he wanted to laugh.

“How did it go?” Ager asked him.

“No problems at all,” Lynan lied.

Ager nodded and made himself comfortable on an upturned log.

For a while Lynan watched the confident crookback with envy, then closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep as if he had nothing in the world to worry about.

The sixth day after the companions left the hamlet the trees started to thin out and they could track the sun against the sky. The air was cooler, drier, and they could smell a river and ripening fields as well as bark and moss and humus. The old trail they had been following for so long now turned east, so they headed north among the trees, confident they would soon come to the borders of the forest.

Early in the afternoon Lynan stopped suddenly and looked up. The others halted, hands going to weapons.

“It’s all right,” Lynan told them. “Listen.”

They all cocked their heads and listened. They kept still for over a minute. Jenrosa opened her mouth to make some comment about her feet turning into roots when the clear, beautiful fluting of a bird reached all their ears. Jenrosa smiled with pleasure and Kumul and Ager laughed.

“I never thought I’d be so pleased to hear birdsong again,” Kumul admitted.

“Not long now,” Ager said. “Maybe only one more night in this forest and then we’re out.”

They set off with renewed energy and a longer stride, even Ager stretching his strange lope without complaint. None of them cared what dangers faced them out in the open because nothing could be worse than the constant fear they had endured over the last six days.

That evening they had no trouble finding a suitable place to make camp. They celebrated their last night in the forest by eating the last of the dried meat the foresters had given them.

“We’ll have to find another stream tomorrow or we’ll have nothing to eat,” Ager said.

“Unfortunately, I haven’t a bow, but I could try and trap some game,” Kumul offered.

“As long as we’re out of this forest, I don’t care if I don’t eat for a month,” Lynan said.

When Lynan took his watch, he was alert but more relaxed than he had been for many nights. He was reassured when he heard the sounds of crickets among the undergrowth, and even the occasional soft padding in the dark of something considerably larger than an insect. Nevertheless, he kept the fire high and bright, and was glad of the warmth it gave.

Toward the end of his watch he heard someone stir, and he turned expecting to see Ager rising early, but it was Jenrosa. She had turned in her sleep, throwing open her coat. Lynan walked quietly to her and closed the coat around her and then, on impulse, softly touched her hair. The skin on his fingers tingling, he retreated, feeling that perhaps not all was wrong with the world after all.

He turned and saw, at the edge of darkness and light, a girl. She was small, dressed in green cloth, with long blonde hair that reached down to her waist. Her face was hidden in the night.

Lynan studied her, unafraid. She took a gliding step forward, as if her feet were not actually touching the ground. He could see her face now. It was round and beautiful. Deep, dark eyes returned his stare. She looked younger than Lynan. She took another step forward and held out her hand.

Lynan started walking toward her. A part of his mind was telling him to stay where he was, but he ignored it and kept on walking until he was only a few paces from the girl. He noticed absently that it was not green cloth that dressed her but parts of tree and bush and moss, and somehow it all seemed a part of her, not something she wore at all.

“I have been searching for you for many nights,” she said, her hand still held out to him. Her voice was as deep and dark as the night surrounding them, and it drew him forward. He reached out with his own hand and took hers. Her skin was as smooth and cold as glass. Her nails dug into his palm and he felt warm, sticky blood trickle between his fingers.

She leaned forward and whispered into his ear. “I want you. I need you.” Her breath was like the sighing of the wind. He could see now that her eyes were the green of the forest itself. She raised his wounded hand and softly licked the palm. He reached out with his other hand. The green surrounding her fell away, and he saw two small white breasts with dark brown nipples.

He put his bloody hand over one of her breasts. He felt no warmth, but still desire flamed within him. She took his hand and moved it to the other breast, and then the flat of her stomach, smearing blood over her ivory skin.

“Kiss me,” she said, and pulled him toward her.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought his lips against hers. He kissed her gently, ignoring the smell of decay on her breath and the sharp teeth that filled her mouth and the rough, rasping tongue that touched his. She drew him away and smiled, her mouth wet with saliva. He saw her eyes brighten, and her pupils distend into slits like those of a cat. Her nails stroked the back of his head and neck.

“Kiss me again,” she said.

Lynan submitted, lost in her, and shivered when her teeth bit into his lower lip. The metallic taste of his own blood flooded his mouth and a small germ of panic wormed its way into his mind. He tried to draw back but found that he was held fast. He grabbed her arms and immediately let them go—they felt like the strong, young branches of a wideoak, the skin rough as bark. A cry started somewhere deep in his throat and escaped as a pitiful moan. His lover threw her head back and laughed, an eager and malevolent sound that finally brought him to his senses and he saw her for what she was.

The face was still that of a girl, still beautifully alluring, but it rested on a body that was half-human and half-tree. The limbs were covered in gray skin, and her body was as hard as wood. Her hair was made from green wisps that smelled of moss and twigs and made a clacking sound when she moved her head. A long, green tongue with three hollow tendrils flickered between her lips.

“Do you desire me?” the creature asked, and laughed again.

He felt her grip tighten around him, and his breathing became labored as he felt his rib cage bending under the pressure. He put his hand under her chin to keep her mouth away from his face, but she was far too strong and slowly she forced her head closer to his.

Suddenly the night was filled with flaring brightness. Lynan was flung away from the vampire like a child’s toy, and he landed heavily on his side. He heard a scream of such pain and torment that his mind reeled in shock. He shook his head and looked up to see Jenrosa, a flaming brand in one hand and a sword in the other, confronting Silona. She was thrusting the brand at the creature’s face, forcing it farther and farther away from Lynan. He saw that Jenrosa was also drawing herself farther into the forest. He cried out to her and tried to stand, but was still so dazed he could only manage to get to his knees.

He heard more cries behind him as Kumul and Ager leaped to their feet and scrabble for their weapons. With a greater effort Lynan stood up and tried to run to Jenrosa’s assistance, drawing his sword as he did so. By now Silona was fighting back, hissing fiercely at the magicker and trying to knock the brand from her grasp. The vampire moved to Jenrosa’s left, forcing her to follow, then quickly leaped back to her right, her arm whipping up and connecting with the magicker’s right shoulder. Jenrosa cried out in pain but managed to hold on to the brand. Silona now struck with her other arm, and her nails raked across Jenrosa’s right shoulder. This time the impact sent the brand flying out of her grasp to land fizzing on the ground twenty paces away. Silona cried in triumph and moved in for the kill, but the cry turned into a scream of rage as Lynan’s sword sliced into her arm. Lynan felt the blade bite into the vampire’s limb, making a whacking sound as if it had embedded itself in a block of wood. Silona pulled back, the blade popping out of her arm. Pale blood seeped from the deep cut, pink in color and almost transparent.

Lynan swung the sword over his head for another blow, but Silona had seen Kumul and Ager running toward her, each bearing a brand as well as their own weapons. Her body writhed and her back split open like a seed case. Two huge black wings sprouted, dark flowers against the light of the campfire. The wings came together with a crack and the vampire lifted into the air. The wings flapped a second time and she disappeared into the night.

The four companions stood together, peering into the darkness, but could see nothing of her. A second later they heard a wail of frustration and pain echo through the forest. Lynan’s whole body shuddered, and he collapsed to the ground.

When Lynan came to, it was morning. The fire was still burning brightly, keeping him warm in the chill air. He propped himself onto his elbows and tried looking around, but he felt dizzy and his head fell back with a clunk.

“I don’t know what your skull’s made from,” said an interested female voice behind him, “but it’s tougher than iron.”

His eyes rolled back in their sockets and he saw Jenrosa sitting on the ground.

“I feel terrible,” he managed to say.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it, the collections of cuts, bruises, and bumps our little party has managed to collect since fleeing Kendra. Can you imagine what we’ll be like in a year’s time? Or a decade?”

“Are we still in the forest?”

“Yes, but Ager thinks the border is only one or two hours’ steady walk from here.”

“Where is he?”

“With Kumul, trying their hand at trapping. As soon as they’re back, we’ll move, if you think you’re up to it. I don’t fancy spending another night in Silona’s Forest.”

Lynan shuddered with the memory of last night’s events. He remembered how easily he had been beguiled by the vampire and felt ashamed. “I almost got you killed last night.”

“But you saved my life from the bear, so don’t lose any sleep over it.”

Lynan laughed grimly. “You’re determined to keep behind your fortress walls, aren’t you?”

Jenrosa stood up and brushed off her pants. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Help me up, will you?”

Jenrosa hooked her a hand under one of Lynan’s arms and lifted. He was unsteady on his feet for a few seconds, but soon he could walk around without falling over. He managed to complete a circuit of their camp and was beginning a second when he saw something at his feet. Jenrosa joined him and looked down where he was gazing at a patch of blackened leaf litter and scorched ground.

“That’s just where my brand hit the ground,” she said.

“That’s your brand over there,” he said and pointed to it. He knelt down and stretched out his hand. “See, there’s some—”

“That’s her blood!” Jenrosa cried.

Lynan jerked back as if he had been about to pat a snake. He stared at it, fascinated. “You’re right, it
is
her blood.”

“Leave it alone, for God’s sake. Haven’t you had enough to do with her?”

Her words made him feel suddenly stubborn. He pulled out his knife.

“What are you doing?”

He ignored her and cut off a triangular section of Roheth’s coat, then used the cloth to scrape up the blood.

“What are you doing?” she insisted.

“A souvenir,” he said, waving the cloth at her. “Besides, I’m sure you’ve heard stories about vampire blood: it’s supposed to have magical properties.”

“What if it helps Silona track you down again?” Jenrosa spat at him.

Lynan hesitated, his face pale. “Do you think… ?” He shook his head. “No. Once we’re out of the forest, we’re free from her.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Silona is a wood vampire. If she leaves her forest, she dies.”

“You don’t know that.”

Lynan put the sample in his coat pocket and stood up. “I’m prepared to risk it.”

Jenrosa spun away from him. “You’re a fool, Lynan. You’ll get us all killed yet.”

After a week of searching for reasonable billets for his men in Kendra, Captain Rendle found a message from the quartermaster’s office of the Grenda Lear army waiting for him at his inn. All mercenary companies had less than ten days to gather at the port town of Alemura if they expected employment in the coming demonstration against Haxus. Rendle was too experienced a soldier to be disappointed with the vagaries of the military bureaucracy, but he was angry he would lose the deposit he had just laid down for the billets.

He rode out of the city to where his company of mercenary cavalry had camped. He was greeted enthusiastically, his troopers expecting him to bring news that from now on nights would be spent with a proper roof over their heads, plenty of food and wine in their bellies, plenty of women in their beds, and an easy few months of employment at the expense of the new king. What they got were new marching orders and the news that they were to be employed by Grenda Lear’s new queen.