Tom Lloyd: The ragged man

'This I know,' Mihn repeated in a small voice.

He remembered what the witch of Llehden had said the night she burned Xeliath's rune into his chest, the third favour he had asked of her. 'It is said that to ask of a witch a third time is to give away a piece of your soul… That claim I offer to another; to the grave, to the wild wind, to the called storm.'

For his sins – for his failures – Mihn had agreed, but even then the full import of his words had sickened him to his core. He had not felt the weight of the obligation as heavily as when Lord Death spoke to him now.

His voice fell to a whisper. 'Whatever is asked shall be done. Whatever cannot be asked of another will be done. Whatever should not be asked of another, it will be done.'

The God regarded him for a long, unbearable time. At last Death inclined His head slightly. 'As you wish.'

Silence reigned once more. Even the circling, spiralling bats were hushed. Mihn found his head bowed again. A movement in the corner of his eye prompted him to glance to the right and there, instead of the Herald he saw the faint grey face of a woman peering down at him from the edge of the black square.

Too astonished to react, too drained and awed to fear the presence of a ghost, Mihn simply stared back. He couldn't make out much; it was like a darker, fogged version of when Seliasei, one of the spirits inhabiting Morghien, stepped out of the aged wanderer's body. The spirit's jaw was moving and it took Mihn a moment to realise it was trying to speak to him. What chilled him, and made him look away, was the pity in the ghost's eyes.

Pitied by the dead. Oh Gods, what have I done?

'Mihn ab Netren ab Felith,' Death declared in a voice that rattled Mihn's teeth, 'speak the boon you crave.'

'I – Your blessing,' Mihn said hesitantly, rather more hurriedly adding, 'Lord Death, my duty leads me beyond your doors. I beg permission to leave this room without receiving your judgment, to ascend the slopes of Ghain and pass through the ivory gates of Ghenna.'

'Such permission is not mine to give,' Death replied in an emotionless voice. 'The slopes of Ghain are mine to rule and all may walk them as they wish, but beyond the River Maram the rule is only of chaos.'

'I understand. I ask only permission to leave this hall and reenter it again without your judgment being pronounced.'

Death leaned forward. 'So granted, but entry through those doors will not be without peril. The guardian heeds neither God nor mortal. The bones of those who have turned from Ghain's ascent litter the first step on your journey.'

Mihn bowed his head in acknowledgment. 'I thank you, my Lord.'

'You do not fear it?'

'My fear is reserved for others,' Mihn said, trying to keep his voice from breaking as his throat dried at the thought. Daima had warned him about the journey he would have to take; the Jailer of the Dark was only the most certain of the many horrors he would have to face. But there was no choice.

'Very well. Your have my favour.' Death gestured to the objects adorning his throne. 'I offer you the pick of my trophies. Each one bears my blessing, and will keep you safe on the slopes of Ghain. A thousand torments await the judged there, but the taste of the living will be all the sweeter for them.'

Mihn opened his mouth to speak, then stopped and thought. Of Daima's many warnings, the first had been to take neither staff nor weapon with him. 'Carry nothing but what you wear. A weapon is an invitation to war, and they will smell the blood on it.'

'I thank you, Lord Death, but I do not go to war on Ghenna. I must trust myself alone.'

He felt the weight on his shoulders lessen as Death sat back in his throne. 'Good. I had thought to have the Mercies teach you that lesson, but it is one you have already learned.'

Death raised a bone-white finger and pointed towards the door beneath the great stone dragon. 'Go then. Find what you seek.'

Mihn stood and backed out of the black square, bowing all the while. As soon as he was out he saw the woman's ghost drift within and Death's gaze lifted as the Herald stepped beside Mihn once more. The small man looked first at Death, then His Herald before rubbing a hand roughly over his face and blinking hard.

'Strange,' Mihn commented to the expressionless Aspect of Death. 'I never really thought I'd even get this far.'

There was no reply, or even a sign the Herald had heard him. Mihn gestured towards the door and set off towards it, the Herald beside him.

'Now I just have to break into the Dark Place itself.'

As he walked, he felt the weight on his shoulders returning with every step.

Venn moved with the painful care of an old man whose next fall would be his last. Walking across the floor of the shrine cavern and up the gently sloped tunnel that led to the Land outside, even so short a distance, left the renegade Harlequin fatigued and huffing for breath in the cold air. He found the steps up to the tunnel particularly difficult; the priestess, Paen, was at his side and had to help him balance as he lifted one foot after the other.

She seemed taller now than when he'd first returned, when her pride had been the key Venn had used to unlock the Harlequin clans – she was standing tall and strong and proud while Venn grew steadily weaker. His unnatural grace was a distant memory now, his speed as absent as the whipcord strength he'd once boasted.

Paen tried to dissuade him from this daily pilgrimage, but Venn knew he had to do it. With two heartbeats hammering in his ears and the breath of two men forcing its way through his lips, Venn knew he had to force himself to move each day, no matter how hard, otherwise he would slowly succumb to the fatigue that was deep in his bones. It was bitterly cold outside, where the snow still lay thick on the ground, but that was still preferable to an interminable tramp around the vast cavern, past the shrines and open temples that littered it.

Jackdaw was silent, even after Venn had dismissed the priestess and two apprentice Harlequins who watched over him with possessive reverence. The black-clad Harlequin was the herald of a new dawn in their eyes; something between an oracle of the Gods and a prophet. They feared and worshipped him in equal measure.

Jackdaw remained a secret from all the others, but while the former monk of Vellern was the secret of Venn's success, as his magery slowly turned the Harlequins to Azaer's service, he was slowly killing Venn. His presence in Venn's shadow was taking a toll the Harlequin would not be able to bear much longer.

I am failing you, master, Venn thought distantly, knowing Azaer could most likely not hear his prayers; not while the shadow inhabited a mortal body. I had thought this was how I would deliver the Harlequin clans to you, but I do not have the strength. These spells you taught Jackdaw did everything I asked, but I am failing nonetheless.

He began to shuffle through the snow, barely noticing the cold at first. The evening was clear and sharp, the stars bright and the hunter's moon free of cloud. In Kasi's light the cloud-oaks studding the forest below glowed a dull white against the miles of dark pine. He stopped and looked up at the sky above the forest: Kasi lay low against the horizon while the greater moon, Alterr, was a yellowed lump at its zenith.

Kasi: this monument to a dull, unthinking thug, and Alterr: a spiteful bitch whose icy heart is displayed for the whole Land to pity. Neither of you deserve the magnificence of the night.

He hunched over, coughing, as the cold air began to tickle his throat, the effort causing his whole chest to ache.

Perhaps I shall ask to be the one to change that.

Venn smiled to himself at the thought. In the fullness of time there would be nothing beyond Azaer's ability to grant.