David Gemmell - Quest for Lost Heroes

'Why would I laugh?'

Tears welled in Beltzer's eyes, flowing to his cheeks and into the red and silver beard. He bowed his head and wept. Kiall reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder.

'Get away!' said Beltzer. 'Leave me alone. Can't a man even grieve in private?'

Kiall rose and backed away. Tanaki was awake and sitting in the centre of the camp-site, a blanket round her shoulders. Her eyes were still swollen, but she could see.

Kiall sat beside her. 'How are you feeling?'

'You wouldn't want to know,' replied Tanaki. 'Did you kill them all?'

'Yes. No. There was one man — the leader, I think — he escaped.'

'Good.'

Kiall was surprised, but he did not press the point. 'Do you wish to be alone?' he asked.

She smiled, then winced as her lip split and a tiny drop of blood formed. 'No. You sit close by, I like your company. Why did you rescue me?'

'Does it matter?'

'It does to me.'

'Is it not enough that you were alone and needed help?'

'This is not a song or a fable, Kiall. I am not one of your yellow-haired ladies trapped in a tower.'

'But you are a princess,' he said, smiling. 'One should always rescue a princess.' She ignored the smile, and annoyance showed in her eyes.

'What about the others? Why did they help?'

'The Tattooed Man asked them to — he said you were part of our quest. Does that satisfy you?'

She nodded. 'I will repay you all.'

'There is no need.'

'I will judge that. I want no debts hanging over me. Where will you go now?'

'To find a man named Asta Khan.'

She looked at him, but he could not read her expression through the bruises she bore. 'He still lives? Surprising. My father set great store by him.'

'He does still,' said Kiall.

'What madness are you speaking? My father is dead; he has been for years.'

'It is hard to explain.'

Try!' she snapped. 'I may be bruised, but there is nothing wrong with my brain.'

As best he could, Kiall outlined the duel with the demons, and the violet-eyed warrior who had come to his assistance. 'Okas told me it was the spirit of Tenaka Khan.'

'How did he fight?'

'With two short swords. He spun like a dancer; I have never seen anything like it.'

She nodded. 'That is one of the names he carried: Bladedancer. He was also the Prince of Shadows.'

'Chareos and Beltzer both knew him,' said Kiall, 'as did Maggrig and Finn. They are the heroes of Bel-azar; he sat with them on the last night of the battle.'

'I know. My father told me. They are the ghosts-yet-to-be:

'What does that mean?'

She shrugged. 'I do not know. My father was a secretive man. He told me of the warriors of the Gothir; he said one of them was blood kin — a Drenai prince. I would guess that to be Chareos. It is inconceivable that it could be the bald, fat one.'

'I know what you mean. Beltzer is not exactly cultured.'

The sound of a walking horse came to them and Beltzer leapt up, his axe in his hands. Kiall stood, drawing his sabre, as Harokas guided his mount into the camp and stepped down.

'I thought you had gone for good,' said Beltzer.

'So did I,' answered Harokas, wearily, 'but I found your friend.'

'Maggrig?' Beltzer whispered.

'Yes.'

Finn lurched to his feet and ran forward. 'Where is he?' he shouted, grasping Harokas' black jerkin.

Harokas put his hand on Finn's shoulder. 'The Nadir took him.'

'Oh, no! Oh, please no!' cried Finn, stumbling back. He ran to his horse, but Chareos cut him off, grabbing his arms and holding him tight.

'Wait!' said Chareos softly. 'We will all go. Calm yourself, my friend.'

Finn seemed to sag in Chareos' arms, his head falling to rest on the swordman's shoulder. Chareos turned to Kiall. 'Wait here with the woman. We'll be back.'

'There's no point,' said Harokas. 'The Nadir are everywhere. It's madness.'

'Even so,' replied Chareos, 'will you take us to the body?'

'It means that much to you? You'll risk your lives for a corpse?'

'Yes.'

Harokas shook his head in disbelief. 'Follow me then, but ride warily.'

Trees were sparse as the questors rode in single file behind Harokas, and the land spread out before them in a series of folds and gullies, like a giant's cloak carelessly tossed from Heaven.

They moved with care for more than an hour, coming at last to a rocky rise. Harokas dismounted and led his horse up the hill, the questors following his lead. He tethered his mount to a skeletal poplar and waited. Chareos joined him. No one had spoken since they rode from the camp. Finn stood by, white-faced, expressionless, his eyes tormented. Beltzer was beside him.

'Follow me,' whispered Harokas, 'and please… no heroics?'

He led them to a rock-face, and on into a narrow fissure which wound down to a ledge. There he squatted in the fading light and pointed to the Nadir camp below. The greater part of the three hundred Wolves were there, and six camp-fires had been set. At the centre of the camp, staked out naked on the ground was Maggrig, his body covered in cuts and burns. Finn groaned and Beltzer's hand gripped the hunter's shoulder.

'Have you seen enough?' whispered Harokas. 'It does not take a warrior's eye to know the man is dead.' Chareos nodded. Maggrig had been tortured, his skin partially flayed, his eyes put out. I 'They are still searching for you,' said Harokas, 'so he could have told them nothing. He had courage. Great courage.'

'Yes, he did,' agreed Chareos, glancing at Finn. 'He was a fine man.'

'I think his horse broke a leg,' continued Harokas. 'It was just bad luck. He almost made it to the slopes.'

'There's nothing more to see,' said Chareos softly. He touched Finn's arm. 'Let us go, my friend.'

'Yes,' murmured Finn.

Harokas backed away from the rim of the ledge and the questors clambered back through the fissure. As they reached the horses, it was Beltzer who first noticed Finn's absence.

'No!' he cried. Turning, he ran back for the fissure, Chareos and Harokas behind him. They came to the ledge in time to see Finn walking slowly down the scree-covered slope towards the Nadir camp. Beltzer made as if to follow him, but Chareos grabbed the neck of his jerkin, hauling him from his feet.

Beltzer hit the ground hard. He stared up into Chareos' face. 'Leave it be,' said Chareos. 'He wouldn't want you there; you know that.'

Beltzer tried to speak, but no words came. He rolled to his knees, gathered his axe and stumbled back through the fissure. Harokas knelt beside Chareos.

The Blademaster ignored him, his eyes fixed on the small, dark figure closing on the Nadir camp. It would be so easy, thought Harokas, his hand on the hilt of his dagger. . just slip the blade through his ribs, sliding it up into the heart. So easy. Then he could return to the Earl, claim his gold and get on with his life. But that would mean leaving Tanaki. He cursed inwardly and took his hand from the hilt.

Below them Finn reached the bottom of the slope and walked forward, back straight, head high. There was a roaring in his ears, like the distant sea, and his eyes were misted. So many years together, years of joy and fear. It never paid to love too much, he'd always known that. All life was balance. There was always a reckoning. Better by far not to have loved at all. He walked past two Nadir warriors who were honing their swords; they stared at him for a moment, then rose behind him. Steadily Finn walked on. He could see Maggrig now, and the terrible cruelty they had unleashed upon him. A man seized Finn's arm. Almost absently, Finn plunged his hunting-knife into the warrior's throat.

There had been that time when Maggrig went down with the Red Plague. No one survived that, but Finn had sat with him, begging him to live. The fever had burned all the flesh from Maggrig's body, leaving translucent skin stretched tightly over the bones. But Finn had nursed him toàhealth. He remembered the day he had first realised Maggrig was going to live. The sky had been grey and overcast, the mountains covered with mist. Moisture dripped from the trees and yet the day had been beautiful — so incredibly beautiful that Finn hadàbeen unable to look upon it without tears.