David Gemmell - Waylander III - Hero In The Shadows

In that moment he felt a great warmth settle over him. He looked into the crooked features of his master and smiled. He knew it was the charm-spell, yet he was unable to resist its power. Deresh Karany was his friend. He loved Deresh Karany, and would die for him.

'Even Waylander will be unable to resist the spell,' said Eldicar. 'He will love you as I do.'

'Perhaps, but we will give him to Anharat anyway.'

'One of his demons, you mean, Lord?' Eldicar could not keep the fear from his voice.

'No. You will help me prepare for the Summoning.'

Even through the comforting warmth of the charm-spell Eldicar felt panic rising. 'Surely, Lord, we do not need Anharat to kill one mortal. Will he not be insulted by being summoned for such a small task?'

'Perhaps he will,' agreed Deresh, 'but then again even the Lord of Demons must enjoy feeding occasionally. An added advantage will be to remind Anharat who is the master and who is the servant.' Deresh saw the growing terror in Eldicar and laughed. It was an ugly sound. 'Fear not, Eldicar, there is a good reason for using Anharat. Ustarte is with Waylander. She knows several ward spells. She will most certainly lay one upon him. Now, if I was to summon a lesser demon and her ward spell proved effective, that demon would turn on me – or, rather, on you as my loachai. There is no ward-spell that can turn back Anharat. Once loosed against a victim he is unstoppable.'

There was truth in that, Eldicar knew. Equally the Summoning would take a great deal of power. His heart sank as he realized what was coming.

'Pick ten of the servants,' said Deresh. 'Young ones, preferably female. Bring them here, two at a time.'

'Yes, Lord.'

As Eldicar Manushan left the tower he tried to think of lakes and sailboats.

But there was no refuge there.

Yu Yu stumbled – just as a huge white-furred creature broke through the line before him. Song Xiu leapt across his path, sending his sword slashing through the creature's neck. It roared and lashed out. Song Xiu grabbed Yu Yu, hauling him out of the demon's reach. Ren Tang and Kysumu both stabbed the beast, which fell writhing to the ground. More demons swept through the breach. Yu Yu clove his blade through the neck of a serpent. Kysumu half decapitated a black Kraloth hound as it leapt towards his throat.

Then the mist faded back. The Riaj-nor regrouped. Yu Yu glanced around. It seemed to him that they had lost around forty of their number. And they had covered barely half a mile. The Riaj-nor fought with a savagery Yu Yu could scarcely believe. There were no war cries, no exhortations, no screams from the wounded and dying. Merely blinding webs of dazzling blue light from the mystical blades as they ripped and tore into the flesh of the demonic army opposing them.

Kysumu had been right. This was no place for Yu Yu. He knew that now. He was merely a clumsy, slow human. Several of the Riaj-nor had died protecting him, and both Song Xiu and Ren Tang watched over him constantly.

'Thank you,' said Yu Yu, in the brief lull.

Ren Tang grinned at him. 'It is our duty to protect the pria-shath,' he said.

'I feel like a fool,' Yu Yu told him.

Song Xiu stepped in. 'You are not a fool, Yu Yu Liang. You are a brave man, and you fight well. With a touch of the meld you could be very good.'

'They are coming again,' said Kysumu.

'Then let us not keep them waiting,' said Ren Tang.

The Riaj-nor swept forward. The mist rolled towards and around them. Winged creatures appeared overhead, throwing barbed darts down upon the fighting men. The Riaj-nor drew daggers from their belts and hurled them up at the demons. They fell from the sky to be stabbed to death. One warrior tore a dart from his shoulder and leapt, grabbing a creature by the ankle. Huge black wings flapped furiously, but the combined weight bore both of them down. The Riaj-nor stabbed the dart through the creature's bony chest. As it died its talons ripped across the Riaj-nor's throat. Blood sprayed over Yu Yu. Swinging round, he hacked off the demon's head.

Ren Tang went down. Yu Yu leapt across his fallen body, delivering a mighty blow to the chest of the bear-like beast that had downed him. The blade sank deep. The creature bellowed in pain and fell back. Ren Tang rose to his feet. There was blood on his face, and a flap of skin was hanging from his temple.

The fighting was furious now. The demons were above them and all around them. But still the Riaj-nor drove forward into the mass.

More than half of the Men of Clay were dead, but the demon hordes were thinning now.

Yu Yu was close to exhaustion. Ice was clinging to his wolfskin jerkin. He tripped and fell across the body of a dead Riaj-nor. Kysumu hauled him to his feet.

The mist parted.

A warm breeze blew across the ruins.

And the demons vanished.

Song Xiu put his arm around Yu Yu and pointed to a line of cliffs. 'There is the gateway,' he said.

Yu Yu peered through the gloom. He could see a flickering blue light against the grey stone. But it was not the light that caught his attention.

It was the two hundred black-garbed Kriaz-nor warriors who were moving out to form a defensive line.

Yu Yu swore. 'After all we've been through you'd think we deserved a bit of luck,' he grumbled.

'This is luck,' said Ren Tang. 'You can't feast on the hearts of demons.'

Yu Yu looked at him, but made no response. Despite the attempted lightness of his tone, Ren Tang looked bone weary. Song Xiu leant on his sword and swung to assess the remaining warriors. Yu Yu did the same. There were just over a hundred Riaj-nor left standing, and many were wounded.

'Can we beat them?' asked Yu Yu.

'We don't have to beat them,' said Song Xiu. 'We just have to get through them and reach the gateway.'

'We can do that, though, hey?'

'It is why we came,' said Song Xiu.

'Let's do it,' said Ren Tang. 'And then I want to find a town and a tavern and a fat-arsed woman. Maybe two.'

'Taverns or women?' asked another warrior.

'Taverns,' admitted Ren Tang. 'I'm a little too tired to want more than one woman.' Putting aside his sword, he lifted the bloody flap of skin back into place, pressing his hand against the wound.

Song Xiu moved alongside him, drawing a curved needle from a small pouch tucked into his waist sash. Swiftly he stitched the upper section of the wound. 'Well,' he said, 'if you don't want both women I'll take one.'

'Aye,' answered Ren Tang, with a quick grin. 'So let us not waste any more time. Let's sweep away these ugly vermin, then get drunk.'

'Agreed,' said Song Xiu, with a brief smile. Then he took a deep breath and swung to Yu Yu. 'I heard what your friend told you earlier. He was wrong then, but his words are right at this time. You cannot come with us on this last fight. We will not be able to protect you. And once we break through we will not be able to protect ourselves.'

'What do you mean?'

'As our swords touch the gateway they will simply cease to be. They will be absorbed by the spell that was placed there.'

'Then you will all be killed,' said Yu Yu.

'But the gateway will be closed,' pointed out the Riaj-nor.

'I will not stay behind,' insisted Yu Yu.

Ren Tang stepped in. 'Listen to me. Despite my hatred of them, I have to admit these Kriaz-nor are great fighters. We cannot battle them and look after you. Yet if you come we will be forced to try to protect you. You see the predicament? Your presence will lessen our chance of success.'

'Do not be sad, Yu Yu,' said Song Xiu. 'It was for people like you that Qin Chong and I, and the others, surrendered our humanity. It is pleasing to me that you are here. For it shows that we did not take this path in vain. Your friend Kysumu can come with us. He will represent humans in this encounter. It is what he wants. He has no true love of life. He knows no fears, as he knows no joys. That is why he can never be the hero you are. And that, my friend, is why you were the pria-shath. Without fear there can be no courage. You have fought beside us, ditch-digger, and we are proud to have known you.' He held out his hand. Yu Yu blinked back tears as he shook it. 'Now we must fulfil our destiny,' said Song Xiu.