Whistler [A sequel to The Chronicles of Hawklan] Page 42

  But the gallopers were less than enchanted at the prospect of spending the night in what they regarded as the wild outlands of their little country, and took their leave.

  'Humourless beggars,’ the officer muttered to his aide as they rode off. ‘They'd have soured any ale we gave them anyway.'

  And that was the end of the negotiations.

  Seeing a successful and painless conclusion to their adventure, the Felden caroused late that night and either feeling no need, or just forgetting, set up no sentries and allowed their fires to sink when they retired.

  * * * *

  It was a full and cold moon that rose over the sleeping camp, draining the colour from it and spreading long shadows of unfathomable darkness. Grey wisps of smoke rose secretively up from the dying fires before escaping silently sideways into the night. Slowly, figures began to approach the camp. They were carrying what appeared to be sticks, though here and there moonlight flickered on polished blades. This was not, however, the approach of skilled soldiers; there was a great deal of whispering and the figures moved with no ordered pattern of mutual protection. Yet they moved with a clear and single intention, and someone amongst them was obviously in charge.

  As they approached the Felden tents, the whispering fell away, and all that could be heard was the sound of the sleeping men.

  Then a single soft word sped around the group and, shouting and screaming, they fell upon the tents, hacking through guy ropes and clubbing and stabbing anything under the tossing canvases that moved. There were fewer attackers than Felden soldiers but, drowsy with ale and dazed by the surprise and ferocity of the assault, the Felden stood little chance of defending themselves. One of the tents caught fire when a lantern was knocked over, and at the height of the killing it became a ghastly funeral pyre, its flames throwing grotesque dancing shadows through the fearful mêlée.

  Suddenly, a figure burst out of the blazing tent, his clothes alight. It was no scream of terror he was uttering, however, but one of battle-crazed rage. Confronted by two attackers, he unexpectedly threw himself to the ground then, maintaining his momentum, he rolled over, simultaneously overturning both of them and dousing his burning clothes. He was on his feet immediately and a single blow lifted another attacker off his feet to drop him dead, with a broken neck, three paces away. Then he was gone, fleeing into the darkness beyond the flame-lit camp.

  One of several figures hovering about the edges of the scene watched his flight then circled wide after him.

  The man paused only momentarily in his bull-like charge, to look for somewhere where he might evade pursuers. He chose a large stand of trees and reached them without hindrance, for there was no one at his heels; the unexpected resistance and the downing of three of their own so easily, had dampened the killing fervour of such of the immediate attackers as had seen him leave. He crashed a little way into the sheltering darkness of the wood, then stopped and turned to look round at the burning camp. Instinctively, he put his back against a tree. Weals, livid even in the leaf-filtered moonlight, scarred his face, and his clothes were still smouldering. He shook his head violently to clear it, then seemed for a moment to be debating whether he should return to the fray to help his lost comrades. It took him only a little time to realize that he could do nothing except save himself and get back to Tirfelden to spread the news of what had happened.

  As he made to move away from the tree, a taunting voice nearby said softly, ‘Turn and die, defiler.'

  He spun round. Some way from him, fully visible in the moonlight, stood a dark figure. The man started, not so much at finding someone there as at the fact that the figure's face was blank, save for two lifeless eyes. A mask, he realized almost immediately, though the shock remained with him even as he crouched low, expecting others to emerge and surround him. None came, however. He glanced quickly through the trees towards the still-blazing camp. As far as he could judge through the flailing shadows, the attackers were still concentrated there. This one must have followed him on his own. The Felden soldier's anger returned to brush aside his initial alarm. Well, there'd be one less Madren celebrating this murderous treachery when the daylight came! He took in the waiting figure. Though rendered bulky by a cloak, his challenger was obviously no great size.

  Yet there was something unsettling about him. The Felden hesitated.

  Then the figure stepped back uncertainly as if to flee. The action drew the Felden forward like a hunting dog and he charged recklessly. His hands were almost about his victim's throat when he caught a glimpse of a blade emerging from underneath the cloak and his ears filled with the sound of a deep breath of pleasure being drawn in. He tried to step aside and at the same time swing his arm to deflect the blade, but to no avail; he was moving too quickly. He felt a dragging blow on his arm and, though there was no pain, he knew that the knife had cut through sleeve, flesh and muscle in one stroke, for almost immediately he could not use his fingers.

  Very sharp, he thought incongruously. A butcher's edge. He had miscalculated. Yet he felt no fear, only more anger—at himself, at his attacker, the Madren, his officer, at many things. It whirled round the dominant thought that now he faced a journey back to Tirfelden badly wounded. He must finish this assailant quickly and do something to bind this hurt before he started to lose blood seriously.

  But his mind blundering into the future left his body leaderless in that Madren wood, staggering under impact after impact as the attacker moved about it, almost leisurely at first, and then with increasing speed, cutting, hacking, then finally and frenziedly, stabbing, until the Felden slumped to his knees then fell forward on to the ground, his terrified mind gone to regions beyond any knowing.

  The figure squatted down a short distance away and waited for all movement in the body to cease. It took a little time. Then, like a carrion-seeking animal, it crawled towards the corpse and, removing its gloves, began running its hands over the open wounds, until they were completely covered in gore.

  'Let this be the destiny of all Your enemies, Lord, and let this offering repair the renewing of the Way, so foully desecrated,’ it whispered, its voice trembling ecstatically. It held up its moonlit blackened hands as it spoke. There was a brief sound, like a sighing wind, and abruptly the hands were clean again.

  The figure stood up and moved off silently into the trees.

  Only two men survived the attack on the camp and that was because they were deliberately spared. Surrounded by the masked victors, they stood dazed and shocked, desperately afraid of what was about to befall them. The circle opened and a stocky, well-built figure entered and approached the two men. It was Cassraw, his face alive with exultation, his eyes blazing with zeal. ‘On your knees!’ he said harshly. ‘On your knees and pray.'

  One of the men hesitated, but the other dragged him down. Cassraw bent towards them and extended an arm to encompass the destroyed camp. ‘Pray thanks to Him that you have been privileged to see the fate of all those who oppose His will and who choose to follow the Great Evil.’ His speech was punctuated by an erratic chorus of, ‘Thus let it be,’ and ‘Praise Him,’ from the onlookers. ‘Pray thanks to Him that you have been spared to carry news of this to His enemies. Tell your people that His coming is nigh, and that Gyronlandt shall once again be united under His banner. Tell them this, and that if they do not return to the paths of righteousness then this night's work shall be writ across your whole land. Tell them that the choice is theirs, and to choose well.'

  He took the chin of each in turn in his hand and stared into their eyes.

  'Go now. He will speed your flight.'

  The two men looked at him uncertainly then clambered to their feet. Cassraw nodded his head and the circle opened to let them through.

  They ran, and the circle closed about Cassraw again, waiting. He spoke to them. ‘A great and glorious victory, gentlemen,’ he said. ‘The village of Bredill has been liberated from the followers of the Great Evil by your courage. You are truly His Knights now, sanctified b
y the blood of his enemies. News of this great battle will ring about Canol Madreth—nay, it will ring about the whole of Gyronlandt—as a clarion call to all who would follow the true Way, and as a knell to those who would oppose His coming.'

  Some of the watchers dropped to their knees as Cassraw spoke and were praying fervently. Amongst the others a wide range of responses to their night's work was beginning to appear.

  'Why did we allow those two to live, Brother?'

  'Why did we have to kill so many, Brother?'

  Cassraw gave the same answer to both. ‘To spread fear and dismay to His enemies, my children. To begin their destruction before even a sword or arrow is drawn. Soon the very shadow of our coming will bring armies to their knees. By this killing, countless other lives will have been saved, and His true enemies exposed. You have been strong and you have done a wretched task well. Great will be the honour that you receive when He finally calls you to Him.'

  He knelt beside the body of the man killed by the fleeing Felden soldier. ‘Even now, our comrade Marash will be standing before His throne, hearing His judgement. A judgement in which all previous wrongdoing will have been set to rights by the giving of his life so bravely. To die fighting His enemies is to die a true martyr and to know no punishment in the after-life but to enter immediately into Deryon, the Place of Heroes, where all your wishes will be fulfilled and all that you have denied yourselves in this world will be granted to you. Carry him back to Troidmallos with honour.'

  * * * *

  The next day, Privv's Sheet did not appear until much later. It was shorter than ever, and even more expensive, but that passed unnoticed amongst its purchasers, for it contained only two stories. One was an account of the Battle of Bredill, in which the valiant Knights of Ishryth had marched through the night to face and utterly crush several companies of Tirfelden's finest troops in open combat. Several tales of courage and bravado were recounted, but the greatest praise was left for the single casualty, Marash, who had killed no less than six Felden soldiers as he defended a wounded friend, before finally succumbing to a treacherous blow from behind. The other was a blistering diatribe against the government for its weakness in allowing such a situation to arise and for cowering before the ‘unprovoked Tirfelden aggression'. It concluded with a call by Cassraw for a service of thanksgiving at this deliverance to be held that night at the summit of the Ervrin Mallos.

  'An excellent piece of work,’ Cassraw said to Privv as he returned the slightly amended draft to him. ‘If you continue thus, there will be a place of high honour for you in the new Canol Madreth.'

  After the meeting, Privv was elated. Leck simply said, ‘We should get away from here. This is all wrong. We shouldn't be doing it.’ Privv's elation was such that he did not even hear the remark.

  'I've already started work on my report about tonight's service,’ he announced rapturously. ‘It'll be even better than the battle report.'

  * * * *

  Such was the momentum of the events that Cassraw had set in train that little could be done to stop them. Those in authority who read the account in Privv's Sheet were both outraged and horrified but were at a loss to know what to do. The chief adviser to the government hastily sent gallopers to Bredill and Tirfelden to find out exactly what had happened, but both were stopped and held at Bredill by a group of Cassraw's Knights, together with all other travellers between the two countries. He also sent an instruction to the Chief of the Keepers that Cassraw be arrested immediately, only to receive the embarrassed reply, ‘For what?’ No action could be taken on the strength of a report in a Sheet, and if Cassraw's Knights had indeed defeated an invading enemy, then where was the illegality? More sinisterly, he added in a footnote, his men would not be able to get near Cassraw, such were the crowds gathering about the Haven Meeting House.

  Hearing this, the leader of the Castellans took out his flask, drained it, and sent for another. The leader of the Ploughers, a harmless idealist by disposition, fluttered pathetically, listing in great detail what the government had done to bring this about, and what they should have done, and how they, the Ploughers, could accept no responsibility for it, and what they would have done, had they been given the opportunity, and if...

  '... there weren't any such thing as sin,’ muttered the chief adviser as he left him, only just managing not to slam the door.

  Toom Drommel however, was struck as though by a blinding light when he read of what had happened. The lingering memory of his meeting with Cassraw and the power of the man suddenly washed over him and swept him away. This could be his moment, even more so than his triumph of the other day. Cassraw was a man who was beyond a doubt going to change Canol Madreth, and those who did not follow him would be left to wither by the wayside. He called for a carriage to take him to the Haven Meeting House.

  * * * *

  Vredech actually staggered when he read the news, and had to sit down. For a brief moment, all the doubts and torments he had suffered since the day of Cassraw's strange conversion, piled up like a monstrous, mocking wave, as black and ominous as the clouds that day, and threatened to break over him and sweep him into true insanity. But even as this was happening the Whistler's voice came back to him.

  'Astonishment,’ it said. ‘You'll be gaping in disbelief at the sword that kills you.’ Then, ‘If you kill Him now, perhaps it will go badly for you. But if you kill Him later, it will have already gone badly for many others.'

  The memory both quieted and chilled him. Although more at ease with himself following his mysterious encounter with Horld, he still could not think about the Whistler calmly. Yet whether the Whistler were real, or some bizarre figment of his imagination, his words were disturbingly prophetic. How much more of what he had said might yet come to pass? But as he looked about his familiar room with its memories echoing back through the years, Vredech could not even begin to school himself to the idea of simply walking up to Cassraw and killing him. No, it was absurd. Almost certainly, Privv's Sheet would be inaccurate. It was inconceivable that a group of youths could annihilate a company of the Tirfelden army. Doubtless the government would even now be trying to find out exactly what had happened. His resolution cleared. Whatever anyone else was doing, he at least could get up to the Witness House and put some fire into Mueran's belly with a view to taking immediate action against Cassraw. He paused as he walked from his quarters to the stables as another reason for his determination surfaced, albeit unclearly: the prospect of Cassraw's call for a public service to be held at the summit of the Ervrin Mallos struck notes of alarm so deep within him that they shook his entire frame. He shivered violently.

  * * * *

  Late in the afternoon, a solitary figure clambered up the rocks that topped the Ervrin Mallos. It was wrapped in a stained travelling cloak and wore a mask that identified it as one of the Knights of Ishryth who had been at the Bredill slaughter. It knelt before the stained rock that Nertha had declared to be the focus of all the ill that hung about the mountain and, head bowed, embraced it.

  Then it drew off its gloves and held its hands high. The air about the summit seemed to quiver lustfully and the hands were suddenly covered in blood. They began to caress one another slowly, luxuriously, as if washing in scented oils, and the blood began to drip from them to splash on to the boulder. Slow at first, it was soon a steady stream, filling the shallow hollow at the centre of the rock and then spreading across its flat top and spilling over the edges.

  The figure was speaking. ‘Blood and terror I bring you again, Lord, to renew the Way. Your power grows within me and there shall be no end to it. Your Will be done.'

  Suddenly, all about the summit was deathly still. The figure, its hands clean, bent forward and embraced the boulder again, then quickly, though without any signs of haste, clambered down the rocks and slipped away.

  A long, moaning sigh filled the summit.

  * * *

  Chapter 31

  Vredech was so preoccupied with his concerns about
Cassraw that he barely noticed the agitation that was pervading the Witness House when he reached it. The groom who took his horse muttered something rhetorical about, ‘where was he supposed to put this one?’ but Vredech had reached the top of the steps before he registered the complaint and was in no mood to take the man to task.

  As he closed the main door behind him, he paused at the sight of twenty or thirty novices of various degrees milling about the high-domed entrance hall, all talking agitatedly. Years of stern hierarchical habit overrode his immediate concerns.

  'What is the meaning of this?’ he shouted over the noise. ‘This is the Witness House of the Church of Ishrythan, not a market-place. Get to your quarters. Turn the energy of this unseemly display to your studies.'

  The clamour fell immediately but the agitation remained.

  'But Brother Vredech, what's going to happen?’ someone asked. ‘Half the Chapter's here and there's uproar in the Debating Hall.'

  'What's going to happen is what's going to happen,’ Vredech announced, unrelenting. ‘And all of you here are a considerable way from needing to worry about what the Chapter is debating or in what manner. Nor are you likely to come any nearer, frittering your time away here.'

  He concluded with a massive gesture of dismissal that scattered the gathering like a wind scattering autumn leaves. The unrest remained, however, though now it was his, for voices still echoed around the entrance hall. Voices which must presumably be coming from the Debating Hall, judging by their direction. Ignoring any attempt at seemliness himself, Vredech took the stairs two and three steps at a time and then ran along the passageway towards the source.