David Gemmell - The Legend of the Deathwalker

'Two thousand of them,' Talisman told him. 'Lancers, infantry and archers.'

'You had better set some men to soak those gates,' said Druss. 'The wood is dry. They'll not bother to smash them. They'll set fire to them.' The axeman cast his experienced eye over the defences, impressed with what he saw. The ramparts had been restored, and a fighting platform raised beneath the crack in the western wall. Rocks and boulders were set on each rampart, ready to be hurled down on advancing infantry. 'How many men do you have?'

'Two hundred.'

'They'll need to be fighters.'

'They are Nadir. And they are defending the bones of the greatest Nadir warrior of all time. They will fight. Will you?'

Druss chuckled. 'I love a good fight, boy. But this one isn't mine. A Nadir shaman told me there were jewels here — healing jewels. I need them for a friend.'

'So I understand. But we have not found them yet. Tell me, did this shaman promise you the jewels?'

'Not exactly,' admitted Druss. 'He just told me they were here. Do you mind if we search?'

'Not at all,' said Talisman. 'I owe you my life, it is the least I can do.' He pointed to the main building. 'That is the Shrine of Oshikai Demon-bane. If the jewels are anywhere they are hidden there. Nosta Khan — the shaman you spoke of — has searched with spells, but he cannot find them. For myself I summoned the spirit of Oshikai, but he would not divulge their whereabouts. Good luck, axeman!'

Hoisting his axe to his shoulder, Druss strode across the compound with Sieben beside him. The Shrine was dimly lit, and the axeman paused before the stone sarcophagus. The chamber was dust-covered, and empty of adornments.

'It has been plundered,' said Sieben. 'Look at the pegs on the wall. Once they would have carried his armour and his battle flag.'

'No way to treat a hero,' said Druss. 'Any idea where to look?'

'Inside the sarcophagus,' said Sieben. 'But you'll find no jewels there.'

Druss laid his axe aside and moved to the coffin. Grasping the stone lid, he tensed his muscles and heaved. The stone groaned and grated as he slid it aside. Sieben looked in. 'Well, well,' he said.

'Are they there?'

'Of course they are not there,' snapped Sieben. 'But the corpse is wearing a lon-tsia exactly like the one we found on the woman.'

'Nothing else?'

'No. He has no fingers, Druss. Someone must have hacked them away to get at his rings. Put the lid back.'

Druss did so. 'What now?' he asked.

'I will think on it,' said the poet. 'There is something here that is not right. It will come to me.'

'Make it soon, poet. Otherwise you may find yourself at the centre of a war.'

'A charming thought.'

The sound of horses' hooves came from the compound. Druss walked to the door and stepped into the sunlight. Sieben followed him in time to see Nuang Xuan leap from his pony, his people streaming in through the gates behind him.

'I thought you were heading away from here,' called Druss. The Nadir leader hawked and spat.

'So did I, axeman. But some fool set a fire in our path and we had no choice but to flee from it. When we tried to cut across to the east we saw a column of Lancers. Truly the Gods of Stone and Water hate me.'

'You're still alive, old man.'

'Pah, not for much longer. Thousands of them, there are — all heading this way. I will let my people rest for tonight.'

'You are a bad liar, Nuang Xuan,' said Druss. 'You have come here to fight — to defend the Shrine. It is no way to change your luck.'

'I ask myself, is there no end to Gothir malice? How does it benefit them to destroy that which we hold dear?' He drew in a deep breath. 'I shall stay,' he said. 'I will send the women and children away, but I and my warriors will stay. And as for luck, axeman, to die defending a sacred place is a privilege. And I am not so old. I think I will kill a hundred by myself. You are staying, yes?'

'It is not my fight, Nuang.'

'What they are planning to do is evil, Druss.' He gave a sudden, gap-toothed grin. 'I think you will stay too. I think the Gods of Stone and Water brought you here so that you could watch me kill my hundred. Now I must find the leader here.'

Sieben walked to where Niobe was standing in the shade. She was carrying a canvas pack, which she had dropped to the ground at her feet. Sieben smiled. 'Missed me?' he asked.

'I am too tired for love-making,' she said tonelessly.

'Ever the Nadir romantic,' said Sieben. 'Come, let me get you some water.'

'I can fetch my own water.'

'I am sure that you can, my lovely, but I would cherish your company.' Taking her hand he led her to the table in the shade. Stone jugs had been filled with water and there were clay cups upon the table. Sieben filled one and passed it to her.

'Do men serve women in your land?' she asked.

'One way or another,' he agreed. Niobe drained the cup and held it out to him, and Sieben re-filled it.

'You are strange,' she said. 'And you are no warrior. What will you do here, when the blood spills?'

'With luck I won't be here when the fighting starts. But if I am. .' He spread his hands. 'I have some skill with wounds,' he told her. 'I will be the Fort Surgeon.'

'I too can stitch wounds. We will need cloth for bandages, and much thread. Also needles. I will gather these things. And there must be a place for the dead, otherwise they stink, bloat, split and attract flies.'

'How nicely phrased,' he said. 'Shall we talk about something else?'

'Why for?'

'Because the subject is. . demoralizing.'

'I do not know this word.'

'No,' he said. 'I don't think you do. Tell me, are you frightened at all?'

'Of what?'

'Of the Gothir.'

She shook her head. 'They will come, we will kill them.'

'Or be killed by them,' he pointed out.

She shrugged. 'Whatever,' she said grimly.

'You, my dear, are a fatalist.'

'You are wrong. I am of the Lone Wolves,' she said. 'We were to be Eagle Wing tribe, under Nuang. Now there are not enough of us, so we will become Lone Wolves again.'

'Niobe of the Lone Wolves, I adore you,' he said, with a smile. 'You are a breath of fresh air in this jaded life of mine.'

'I will only wed a warrior,' she told him sternly. 'But until a good one approaches me I will sleep with you.'

'What gentleman would spurn such a delicate advance?' he said.

'Strange,' she muttered, then walked away from him.

Druss strolled across the compound. 'Nuang says he's tired of running. He and his people will stay here and fight.'

'Can they win, Druss?'

'They look like a tough bunch, and Talisman has done well with the defences.'

'That doesn't answer the question.'

'There is no answer,' Druss told him. 'Only odds. I wouldn't bet a half-copper on their holding for more than a day.'

Sieben sighed. 'Naturally this does not mean we'll do something sensible — like leave?'

'The Gothir have no right to despoil this Shrine,' said Druss, a cold look in his grey eyes. 'It is wrong. This Oshikai was a hero to all the Nadir. His bones should be left in peace.'

'Excuse me for stating the obvious, old horse, but his tomb has already been plundered and his bones hacked around. I think he's probably past caring by now.'

'It is not about him, it's about them,' said Druss, indicating the Nadir. 'Despoiling the Shrine robs them of their heritage. Such a deed has no merit. It is born of spite and I can't abide such things.'

'We're staying, then?'

Druss smiled. 'You should leave,' he said. 'This is no place for a poet.'

'That is a tempting thought, Druss, old horse. I may just do that — as soon as we sight their battle flags.'

Nuang called out to Druss and the axeman strode away. As Sieben sat at the table, sipping water, Talisman walked across to him and sat down.