The Hungering Flame (3 page)

“
Through them!
”
Prince Cabre yelled, and he plunged forward on Inglefras, charging the line of men that barred the road.

Garrett lifted his hand to his mouth and bit down on the fingertips of his glove. He tore the glove free and plunged his bare hand into his satchel, pulling out the metal canister, cold and heavy, and full of magical essence. He let the glove drop from his lips as he raised himself up, holding the essence flask above his head.

“
Sielaan Thu’alla!
”
he cried, and green flames erupted like a fountain from the top of the canister. Showers of flame leapt from his hand, splashing amidst the startled soldiers to the right of the road. He shook his arm to the left and rained green fire down on the other side as well.

The Chadiri staggered back, shouting, as they tried to beat the green flames out, unable to escape the magical fire that clung and hissed like sizzling fat as it burned.

Cabre and Warren crashed through the ragged line of soldiers, opening a path. Marla and Garrett followed them through. Garrett looked back at the confusion behind, laughing at the red-clad soldiers rolling in the dirt with verdant flames still licking at their bodies.

He smiled at Marla, but she looked sick.

“
Garrett,
”
she said, a look of horror on her face,
“
what did you do?
”

He laughed again.
“
I scared them!
”
he shouted,
“
That fire doesn’t burn. There’s no real heat in it!
”

Even now the flames behind were dying out, and the Chadiri discovering the illusionary nature of the spell. Rattled, but unharmed, they would soon give chase once more. The cold ache in Garrett’s right arm and the lightness of the empty flask told him that he had spent the last of the magical essence. It had been a very expensive trick.

The moon shone through a break in the clouds, and Garrett looked up to see stars against the black sky beyond. For a moment, he forgot all about the deadly pursuit of the Chadiri. The stars shimmered, pale and beautiful. He could not remember how long it had been since he saw them last. He la
ughed again, a loud, triumphant
laugh that felt better than anything he had felt in a long while.

Ghausse lurched beneath him, skidding to a halt and growling loudly. The others stopped as well, and Garrett saw why.

The forest had opened before them to reveal a wide clearing beyond. A line of fifty horsemen blocked the road ahead, their tabards dark as blood in the moonlight.

“
The swamp!
”
Warren said,
“
It’s our only chance!
”

Warren tugged at Hauskr’s fur, turning the big wolf toward the trees to the side of the road. The others followed the ghoul into the forest, trusting his nose to lead the way. Arrows ripped through the dense leaves of the underbrush, but none struck flesh. Horns sounded from behind, growing fainter as the trees closed around them.

The scent of wet rot filled the cool air as they ran deeper into the swamplands. The wolves’ pace slowed as their big paws sank into the marshy soil, and Inglefras struggled, his gray legs now black with mud.

Warren cursed and urged Hauskr toward higher ground. They made for a low hummock, dragging themselves up onto relatively dry land.

“
Which way now?
”
Marla asked. She glanced around, scanning the darkness for sig
ns of danger. Garrett wished he had an answer
, but he couldn’t think
clearly
through his fear.

Warren let out a whining growl, turning his head left and right, searching for a path.

“
That way!
”
Prince Cabre said, pointing into the darkness. Garrett wondered how he could see anything that Marla or Warren could not.

Warren nodded, and they set out in the direction the prince had indicated. It proved to be an old deer path along a narrow
stretch of higher ground
. Soon the
earth
on either side of the path had given way to dark pools of water as they pressed into the heart of the swamp.

A horn sounded behind them, close enough to spur them to greater haste. Ghausse’s hind paw slipped, and Garrett clung tight for a panicked moment as the wolf regained his footing. Part of the vine-tangled earth below them tore loose and fell into the black water with a splash.

A thrumming sound split the air, and then a solid
thunk
as a Chadiri arrow spli
ntered
the trunk of a sapling a yard away from Garrett’s head.

“
Go!
”
Warren shouted, and they ran, as best they could.

A thorn vine tangled around Garrett’s leg, and he cried out as Ghausse dragged him through it, ripping his pants leg and the skin beneath. More arrows zipped through the brush, putting the
threat of the
thorn bush in perspective.

The path descended again, and Warren howled in frustration ahead. Ghausse leapt a gap in the path and landed beside the others on what could only be described as an island. All around them, water stretched for fifty or more yards in every direction but the way they had come. Above them, the clouds rolled in to veil the moon that shone on the dark water all around.

They spun to see movement in the forest behind. The Chadiri were upon them.

“
Do we swim?
”
Marla asked, her voice shaking.

“
Too far,
”
Cabre answered,
“
they’ll shoot us in the water.
”

“
Surrender then?
”
Garrett asked.

The prince shook his head sadly.
“
They will kill you all... and I will not be taken alive by them again. Will someone lend me a blade? I would die fighting.
”

Garrett hesitated, his hand almost on the hilt of his knife. So moved was he by the prince’s plea, he might have given up his last defense to honor it. Instead, Marla pulled one of her daggers from its scabbard and passed it, wordlessly, to Cabre.

“
I thank you again, my lady,
”
Cabre said.

Soldiers emerged at the edge of the forest, weapons drawn. A Chadiri captain called out in a rough voice,
“
Astorran, surrender your arms and come peacefully. You know we have orders to deliver you unharmed.
”

The prince’s jaw flexed, as he moved his horse between Marla and the Chadiri. He looked back at her, his eyes fierce.
“
Will you grant safe conduct to my friends?
”
He demanded.

The Chadiri captain removed his helmet, his face leathery and scarred beneath
closely cropped
gray hair. He remained silent for a moment before replying,
“
These are not your friends, Astorran. You know not into whose hands you’ve fallen. You ride with demons of the night. Come back to the light boy, before it is too late... for you and your people.
”

Cabre shook his head.
“
Demons or not, will you grant them safe conduct if I agree to go with you?
”

The Chadiri bowed his head, slipping his red helmet back on. He pulled a
war hammer
from his belt and lifted it high.
“
I can promise them only a swift death,
”
he said,
“
and you should know that this is more than their kind deserves.
”

“
Well, I don’t like you either!
”
Warren shouted.

Silence hung heavy for a moment before the sound of Garrett’s stifled laughter broke the tension in the air.

Warren flashed him a sharp grin, and Marla smiled as well, readying her knives. Cabre nodded gravely at them, as Inglefras stamped his hooves in the mud, anxious for battle.

The red-armored soldiers dismounted and advanced toward them, under cover of their archers who remained at the water’s edge with bows drawn, but not firing.

“
I’m sorry, my friends,
”
Cabre sighed,
“
but it is an honor to face this hour at your side.
”

“
Likewise,
”
Marla said.

“
Well, Garrett,
”
Warren said,
“
Happy Deathday!
”

Garrett wasn’t listening. His attention was drawn by something moving in the water.
“
What?
”
he mumbled.

“
Been good knowing you and all,
”
Warren said, sounding annoyed,
“
What are you looking at anyway?
”

“
I don’t know...
”
Garrett said,
“
just...
”

The dark surface of the water roiled all around them as though a school of fish were passing by the island.

The Chadiri captain, leading the advance, and already waist-deep in the black water, noticed the movement as well.
“
Trap!
”
he shouted, and, suddenly disappeared beneath the churning waters with a great splash.

Pale arms reached from the water, clawing at the Chadiri and dragging them down. Soldiers cried out, hacking and beating at the undead creatures that surged up from the depths of the swamp. For every one they destroyed, two more rose from the water, dripping and trailing long streamers of dark weeds.

The archers let fly their arrows, many of them thudding into the unheeding flesh of the zombies. A few struck true, and here and there a zombie would go limp and sink again with a feathered shaft through its brain. Prince Cabre turned his horse’s flank to shield his rescuers, but Marla had already leapt in front of him. Her daggers flashed, and the few arrows that made it to the island fell in pieces at her feet.

Cabre looked at Garrett with a blanched expression, and Garrett shrugged.
“
Vampires are really fast,
”
Garrett said.

Shouts of alarm filled the woods behind the Chadiri, and with them the sounds of steel against steel. A horn blared once, cut off abruptly.

The last of the archers had dropped their bows and each one fought to the death with the short sword they carried at their belt. Soon, the sounds of battle died away, and even the tramp of dead men’s boots grew silent. An eerie calm descended on the swamp once more as the zombies, finding no one else to fight, slouched motionless, awaiting their next command.

Then came the sound of laughter echoing through the trees, and Garrett grinned.

“
Max!
”
Garrett shouted.

From the trees emerged a crowd of zombies, still clad in torn Chadiri uniforms, and with them came a man astride an undead horse. An archaic longsword hung at his side, and he wore black armor with a silver skull-faced visor, now lifted to reveal a familiar face.

“
Well then, Garrett, did you decide to run away and join my circus after all?
”
said Maximillian Zara.

“
We are
really
glad to see you!
”
Garrett said, his voice cracking a little in relief.

“
I must thank you for playing such enticing bait for my little trap,
”
Max
said,
“
though I admit that I wasn’t expecting you. Otherwise we might have shared the pleasure of springing it.
”

“
Yeah, no problem,
”
Warren growled.

“
No deathday party for you today, I’m afraid, Warren,
”
Max
laughed,
“
but, if you stick with me long enough, I’m sure you will find ample opportunities.
”

“
Thank you, Master Zara,
”
Marla sighed, sheathing her daggers before crossing her hands over her chest and inclining her head in respect.

“
It was my pleasure to be of service, Lady Veranu,
”
Max
said with a creaking parody of a florid bow, mounted and armored as he was. His eyes fell upon the prince then, and his expression went suddenly cold.

“
My thanks to you as well, sir knight,
”
the prince said,
“
Astorra is in your debt.
”