David Gemmell - Waylander III - Hero In The Shadows

'You have been asleep for hours,' said Kysumu wearily. The little Rajnee rose and padded away from the cave. Yu Yu pushed himself to his knees and groaned again. Glancing down, he saw the fresh stitches in the new wound to his shoulder. 'Every time I fight I get hurt,' he said, though Kysumu was nowhere in sight. 'Every time. And when a great hero takes over my body he gets hurt. I'm tired of my body getting hurt. Once we find the Men of Clay I'm going home. I'm going to dig ditches.' He thought about it for a moment, remembering the threat to his life. 'No, first I'm going to sneak into Shi Da's house and cut his throat. Then I'll dig ditches.'

'You are talking to yourself,' said Kysumu, returning to the cave with a double handful of dark berries. He offered them to Yu Yu, who sat down and ate gratefully. They did no more than dent the edge of his appetite.

'Qin Chong came to me,' said Kysumu.

'I know. I was there. Here. Whatever! He was very complimentary about my strength and speed. We fought well, hey? Cut his bastard head off.'

'You fought well,' agreed Kysumu. 'But now there are six more Kriaz-nor closing in on us.'

'Six? That's a lot,' said Yu Yu. 'Don't know if I could kill six.'

'Yow couldn't kill one,' said Kysumu, an edge of irritation in his voice.

'I know why you are angry. Qin Chong wouldn't tell you why you weren't the pria-shath.'

Kysumu sighed. 'You are correct, Yu Yu. All my life I have struggled to be the perfect Rajnee, to be worthy of the name, and to uphold the standards set by men like Qin Chong. I could have been rich, the owner of a palace, the lord of a province. I could have wed the Star Lily.'

'The Star Lily?' queried Yu Yu.

'It is not important. I have eschewed all riches and remained a humble swordsman. What more could I have done to be worthy?'

'I don't know,' said Yu Yu. 'I haven't done any of these things. But, then, I didn't want to be the pria-shath.' He wandered out of the cave, seeking more berries and finding a bush some sixty paces away. They were not quite ripe, but they tasted heavenly. Yu Yu had no idea why Kysumu longed to be the pria-shath. What was so great about being hunted and hungry, with killers on your trail? As far as Yu Yu was concerned he wished Kysumu had been the pria-shath. Having stripped the bush Yu Yu turned – and stopped in his tracks. The cave was set into the side of a domed hill. Yu Yu stared at it, remembering his spirit journeys with Qin Chong. As fast as his bruised limbs would carry him he hurried back to the cave. 'We are here,' he told Kysumu. 'This is it! This is the hill of the Men of Clay.'

'You are sure?'

'Certain.'

The two men moved to the open air, scanning the hillside. 'How do we enter?' asked Kysumu.

'I don't know.'

Slowly they traversed the base. No trees grew upon the hillside, and there were no openings of any kind, save for the cave in which they had rested. Kysumu climbed to the top, scanning the surrounding ground. Then he returned to where Yu Yu waited.

'I can see no sign of an entrance,' said Kysumu.

They walked back to the cave and Kysumu began to examine the grey walls. They were seamless. Yu Yu waited outside. He, too, was mystified. In his dream he had seen the Riaj-nor walking to this hillside and vanishing inside. He did not recall there being a cave, nor indeed an overhang like the one above, jutting from the hillside like a lean-to roof.

He walked back to the berry bush and stared at the overhang and the land below it. He had been a ditch-digger and a builder for most of his adult life, and he knew a little about the movement of soil. It seemed to him then that the area around the cave mouth could have eroded, exposing the cave. Kysumu joined him. 'I can find nothing,' he said.

Yu Yu ignored him, and walked to the rock face, just to the left of the cave mouth. His body was still aching, but he reached up, found a handhold and slowly began to climb. Had he not been so bruised and weary the climb would have been easy. As it was he was grunting as he hauled himself over the lip of the overhang. 'Up here!' he called, beckoning Kysumu to follow him. The little Rajnee scaled the face swiftly. There was a slab of stone, some six feet high and four feet wide, set vertically into the hillside.

'It looks like a door,' said Kysumu, pushing at it. It did not budge.

Yu Yu did not answer. He was staring towards the tree line, where six warriors had emerged.

Kysumu saw them too. 'At least they don't have bows,' he muttered. 'Perhaps I can kill them as they climb.'

Yu Yu stepped towards the rock door, extending his hand. As his fingers touched the stone it shimmered. Just like a pebble falling into a pond. Tiny waves rippled out. Yu Yu stared at the ripples, then he reached out. His hand passed through the door as if through a cold fog. He gestured to Kysumu, who was watching the advancing Kriaz-nor. 'I have found the way in,' he said, pointing to the cold stone.

'What are you talking about?'

Yu Yu swung back – to see that the entrance was solid stone once more.

'Take my hand,' said Yu Yu.

'We have you now, little men!' shouted a Kriaz-nor, running forward and scrambling up towards them. Kysumu's blade swept into the air.

Yu Yu touched the stone once more, and, as the ripples began, grabbed Kysumu's arm and dragged him through the fog.

On the other side they stood in pitch darkness.

'Oh, this is wonderful!' said Yu Yu. 'What now?' Immediately a score of lanterns flared. Kysumu narrowed his eyes against the sudden glare. As his vision acclimatized he saw that they were standing in a short tunnel, leading to a vast domed hall. Releasing Yu Yu's hand, Kysumu moved to the end of the tunnel. Within the hall, standing in ranks, were several hundred dazzlingly white, full-sized clay figures. Each of the figures was of a Riaj-nor swordsman. They were magnificently cast and sculpted. Towards the front of the silent army three of the figures lay broken. A section of rock had fallen from the roof, shattering them. Kysumu picked up a section of a fragmented head and examined it. He had never seen such quality of workmanship. Reverently replacing it on the ground he moved through the ghostly ranks, gazing upon their faces. Such nobility. Such humanity. Kysumu was awestruck. He felt he could see modest heroism in every face. These were the great ones, who had fought a colossal evil for the benefit of mankind. Kysumu's heart swelled. He felt immensely privileged merely to gaze upon their features.

Yu Yu sat down, leaning his back against the wall and closing his eyes.

After a while Kysumu came back and sat alongside him. 'What do we do now?' he asked.

'You do as you please,' said Yu Yu. 'I need to rest.' Stretching out, he laid his head on his arm and fell asleep.

Kysumu rose. He could not take his eyes from the grim Men of Clay. Every face was different, though each wore the same armour, ornate helms that flared out to protect the neck, torso protectors that seemed to have been created from coins, perfectly round and held together by small rings. Each of the warriors was also clothed in a full-length tunic, split to the waist at front and back. Their swords were like his own, long and slightly curved. Kysumu strolled through the ranks again, wondering which of these men was Qin Chong.

The lanterns burned brightly. Kysumu examined one, and saw that it carried no oil, no fuel of any kind. A globe of glass sat upon a small cup, white light radiating from its centre.

Slowly he walked around the domed hall. On one side he found hundreds of small golden items laid on a wide rocky shelf. Some were rings, others brooches or wrist bangles, scattered and piled one upon another. There were pendants, ornaments and tiny good-luck figures shaped in the form of animals, dogs, cats, even the head of a bear. Mystified, Kysumu returned to where Yu Yu slept. He did not try to wake him. Yu Yu was exhausted.