Knight and Champion Page 18

  “Honey mead all round tonight,” Adalita said happily as she loaded the cloth and secured it with twine. “Let’s get back before it soaks through. Besides, a bear, wolf or badger is bound to come sniffin’ round.”

  The early afternoon forest had a lazy, languid quality that hinted at an intense summer to come. Base camp was unmanned - Jader and the senior rangers were presumably out on patrol. Tanis and Adalita busied themselves collecting firewood and checking the perimeter for animal tracks. All clear. Tanis enjoyed his newfound familiarity with Adalita. Their morning session appeared to have forged a bond that might just survive his troubled apprenticeship. As the pair set about the mundane tasks of keeping the camp in good order, a queer feeling gradually came over him. Something like butterflies, only more joyous than anxious. It didn’t make any sense, so he chose not to dwell on it. It was enough just to focus on the physical tasks of the day.

  The other rangers were stony-faced and quiet when they returned around mid-afternoon. Jader eyed Adalita curiously.

  “Back already?”

  “We covered a lot of ground,” Adalita said a little defensively. She laid out the honey with a bashful smile. “Feast your eyes on that.”

  Jader’s eyes glittered darkly. He didn’t even look at the honey.

  “At least two hours of daylight left,” he said in a tight voice. “Orcs to the west, elves to the east. There’s seventeen of us. You want us to sit around eating honey?”

  A hush descended over the group. Jader was being uncharacteristically aggressive. Adalita shrugged, showing a toughness beyond her years.

  “The boy did well today,” she said. “We trained hard and now I’m ready to eat sweet.”

  A couple of rangers grunted in appreciation, but Jader was unmoved.

  “Tomorrow we march east to track the untrackable,” he said thoughtfully. “But you may be right, girl. Let’s have some fun first.”

  Tanis had a sinking feeling that his day, which had improved out of sight, was destined to turn yet again. On cue, Jader looked straight at him. It felt personal. Like something to do with Adalita.

  “I’m heading up top to meditate,” he said breezily, motioning in the general direction of the falls. “If you can get close enough to tap me on the shoulder, I’ll give you my own bow.”

  Jader slipped it free to demonstrate its worth, but there was really no need. Tanis, generally immune to tools of war, had already caught himself admiring the spectacular weapon on several occasions. Upper and lower limbs spiraled into audacious, s-shaped tips. With such a severe recurve it was speculated the weapon couldn’t possibly send arrows more than a hundred feet. Thankfully, a test had never been necessary. With typically astute foresight, Jader had specifically acquired the bow for forest use. What it lacked in range it more than made up for in handling. One of the senior rangers reckoned Jader’s exotic recurve bow could loose arrows twice as quickly as the best longbow in the company. Combine that with a sublimely dexterous bowman and a truly formidable ranger was the result.

  “Jerrer ash from the deep deserts to the south,” Jader said. “Nomad-crafted over a century ago. Treated with resin no one I know can identify. The sweetest wood you’ve ever seen, boy. One day you might be ready for this, but it sure as hell won’t be today. Unless you prove me wrong.”

  Tanis blinked. What was Jader playing at? He was acting like Tanis was destined for something special. The very idea was ludicrous - he could barely lift his own bow let alone use it.

  “You know I have no chance,” was all he could say. Several of the senior rangers smiled and nodded in agreement.

  Jader’s face darkened. “The sooner you know better, the safer we’ll all be.”

  Before Tanis could ask what the hell he was talking about, the head ranger had melted into the trees.

  “Give him five minutes,” said Petyr, Jader’s right hand man. “That’s all he needs.”

  The other rangers chuckled as they went about their business. Adalita looked at Tanis suspiciously.

  “Who are you, boy?” she asked. “Why is Jader behaving like that?”

  Tanis’s heart lurched. He hoped that whatever magic spell had brought them closer together wasn’t suddenly broken.

  “I haven’t the faintest clue what Jader sees,” he said. He must’ve looked appropriately frustrated, because Adalita nodded.

  “He thinks you’re ready,” she said. “We have to assume he’s right. He might try and fight you up there.”

  This time Tanis’s stomach tried to do a somersault. “This is crazy. I’ll get slaughtered.”

  “Don’t take the obvious track,” Adalita replied, focusing on the practical. “Head across the falls and circle round to the east. I’m fairly sure there’s a goat track that way. Try and approach from the north.”

  Tanis nodded.

  “You ready … boy?” she asked with a faint smile.

  “No.”

  “Don’t get killed.”

  Adalita masked her concern by heading out to collect herbs. Emboldened by a strange mess of emotions building within, Tanis headed directly for the base of the falls. The least he could do was take Adalita’s advice and try to flank the master ranger lying in wait for him. His body tensing with the anticipation of violence, he stood in a shower of fine spray. At length he tracked twenty yards downstream so he could pick his way across the boulders to the east bank. He couldn’t see the goat track Adalita had mentioned, so he simply followed the stream back to the washpool and edged east along the rock wall. Keeping his eyes peeled for a way up, he covered the ground with growing urgency. It struck him that he was bringing anger to this encounter. Jader’s secrecy annoyed him no end - it was time the ranger knew about it. Figuring it gave him energy if nothing else, Tanis allowed the negative emotion to course through him. The rock wall dragged him northeast, but there was still no sign of a path. Had he missed it? Had he failed the test before it had even begun? Wasting Jader’s time would be the ultimate humiliation.

  In his breathless scramble, Tanis almost missed the hole at the base of the rock wall. Big enough for a small man to squeeze through. Was it worth pursuing? In his limited experience, caves were dangerous. No sign of a path further along the rocky outcrop. Deshan, one of the rangers, had mentioned a network of interconnected caves in the area. Maybe this was a way up? Figuring it was already too late, Tanis rolled awkwardly through the gap and found himself in a dank cave. The air was fetid and smelled like rank meat. In the gloom he could see a passage sloping upward and took it without hesitation. The tunnel changed direction twice before Tanis was forced to climb an awkward ledge. Increasingly concerned about the fading light, Tanis continued his ascent. He plunged onward in pitch blackness, wishing he was experienced enough to craft his own torch. His forehead glanced against something sharp and he felt a familiar warm trickle. Swearing, he forged onward, praying the tunnel actually went somewhere. With sudden inspiration, his used his bow to feel his way. The light improved and Tanis increased his pace. Thirty yards ahead, a circle of weak light promised the world. Immensely relieved, he pushed hard for what he hoped was an exit.

  It wasn’t. Tanis hauled himself into a cavern lit by several holes in the high ceiling. He figured he was near the top of the falls, but there was no obvious way of climbing through those holes. The last light of the day outside illuminated the cavern floor, which was strewn with bones. Tanis could see at least two tunnels through the gloom, both of which were dark.

  “Fuck!” he snarled, frustrated to be so near and yet so far. For all he knew, Jader was sitting on a rock barely twenty yards above him. He huddled against the wall for several minutes, wondering if Jader would banish him for being so green, so ineffective. Just when he’d gotten used to the idea of being amongst these rangers, fate was conspiring to rip it all away.

  A low snarl echoed from one of the tunnels. Two immense tusks emerged, followed a hideously ugly snout dripping with mucus. Tanis’s throat constricted as the rest of the beast enter
ed the cavern - it was huge. Tanis had heard of wild warthogs in the Dawn Forest, but nothing this big. Its fur was jet black and scored with old wounds. Terrified of starling the beast, Tanis pulled his bow over his shoulder. Judging by the bowed head and stomping hooves, he’d definitely been seen. It was only a matter of time before the thing would charge. Tanis probably had one chance of releasing an arrow, so he needed to make it count. He carefully nocked one of his precious shafts, not quite knowing what to aim for. An eye? The snout? There was probably no point in going for a high-percentage flanking shot - that hide looked like armor.

  Tanis took a deep breath, remembering Adalita’s advice about the ‘first plateau’. He loosed the arrow, watching it sail serenely into the rock a half yard above the hog. His heart sank. The beast charged. It moved so quickly that Tanis barely had time to scuttle a yard to his right before being pinned to the wall. At first he thought he’d somehow eluded those murderous tusks, but it was only his adrenalin masking the pain. The tusk buried in the right side of his abdomen was no illusion. He almost fainted on the spot, certain he would bleed out in this cavern. To make matters worse, the foul beast tried to shake itself free of Tanis’s soon-to-be corpse. This time he did feel the pain. It spiraled up his spine and filled him with rage. His body throbbed with a strange energy he’d never felt before. It sickened him and he instinctively sought to release it. He grabbed the hog’s tusk with both hands and squeezed with all his might. Mere seconds ago it would’ve seemed like an illogical move. Suicidal. But right then it seemed like a natural outlet for his upwelling.

  “Break,” he muttered through clenched teeth, flinching when a disturbing image of decay invaded his mind. Incredibly, the tusk crumbled in his grasping hands, the ivory falling as fine dust to the blood-soaked cavern floor. The warthog gave a high-pitched squeal, its hot breath making Tanis’s stomach churn. Head quivering with fear, it backed away several yards. Tanis sensed it was about to flee, but whatever was upwelling in him refused to let go. He darted forward and threw an arm around the thing’s massive neck. Again consumed by a sensory perception of decay, he wrenched as hard as he could and was rewarded with a grotesque pop. He stumbled forward only to fall flat on his face and smash his nose. Spitting blood, he realized he was still holding something warm and hairy. He let the head go and stood over his trophy, eyes watering with pain. The hog’s head had come clean off and was spurting blood across the stone.

  “How … why …”

  The ranger’s breath came in short gasps. The wound in his abdomen throbbed and he felt dreadfully weak.

  “Tanis!”

  Adalita emerged from the passage Tanis had taken. She clearly didn’t know what to make of the bizarre scenario. When she spotted Tanis’s wound she propped him against the wall and reached into a pouch at her belt. Whatever she did next involved shoving her fingers partway into the hole. He felt woozy and on the verge of passing out.

  “Tanis,” she said, perhaps to draw his mind away from the pain. “You killed that?”

  “Don’t ask,” he gasped, meaning he had absolutely no idea. “I just felt strong.”

  “Not strong,” boomed a voice from above. Jader’s face filled one of the holes in the ceiling. With impressive agility he let himself through, hung for a moment, then dropped silently to the rock.

  “Not strong,” he repeated with a knowing smile. “But powerful nonetheless.”

  Tanis eyed Jader from across the cavern. Adalita finished her ministrations and rocked back on her haunches, also looking expectantly at her mentor.

  “I think it’s time, Jader,” Tanis muttered.

  If he wasn’t wounded, he would’ve attacked the ranger on the spot. The time for secrecy was over. What had just happened shocked Tanis to the core. His actions had been his and his alone, but whatever power had offered itself to him was completely foreign. Jader paced back and forth, as if deliberating over something important.

  “I apologize,” he said at length. “In case you’re wondering, I wasn’t certain of the damned warthog, though I did smell it earlier. Alpha male, well into senescence. As strong as they come.”

  “You meant for it to fight me?” Tanis asked.

  “I meant to draw forth the power you just experienced,” the ranger replied defensively.

  “You knew it was there,” Adalita said in a challenging tone. Tanis was gratified to have her on his side. It seemed the day’s events had not only forged their bond, but solidified it. Not even Jader himself was able to break it.

  “I suspected,” the older man said grimly. “When I happened upon the boy at the Border Village I sensed something I haven’t felt since … well, a long time ago. During the Skirmishes.”

  Adalita seemed cowed by the term, but Tanis didn’t know what he was talking about.

  “Jader,” he said, his anger rising again.

  “It started over a century ago,” Jader said. “Back then, the Dawn Rangers numbered over eighty elite trackers and bowmen.”

  The veteran sighed, his memories clearly painful.

  “We used to patrol the entire forest, right down to Fenril Marsh. We never ventured in though. There was something black about that place, something that crawled under your skin. No one could say exactly what turned them away. The swamp was hardly a paradise, with its snakes and poisonous insects, but there was something else. That ‘something’ lingered on the edges of our lives until four rangers went in to harvest boarwood. They weren’t very deep, maybe a half mile. When they failed to return, around twenty of us formed a rescue party. The bodies we found were … in scorched pieces. A heavy, elusive presence sickened me to the core. No one else was affected like I was. I was sensitive to the taint.”

  “The taint of what?” Tanis found himself asking, hanging off Jader’s every word. There was something horribly, horribly familiar about his story, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

  “The taint of the evil fucking bitch in the middle of that swamp,” Jader said. “A dire witch, Tanis. Magic user. Been there for as long as folks can remember, maybe centuries. They call her the Tall Lady.”

  “But that’s not the end of it,” Adalita said.

  Jader shook his head sadly. “The Dawn Rangers were more like soldiers back then. We waged war on that bitch. Fifteen years we wasted on her. Many good rangers lost their lives. First we tried to kill her, then we tried to drain the swamp. Both campaigns were complete failures. Place is cursed. My company doesn’t go near it. I think Dahal Rane and his crew got through down there. They have some way of appeasing the witch. Something human rangers don’t have.”

  Jader looked hard at both his wards, eyes glistening.

  “There’s a graveyard on the southern rim of the forest,” he said. “Fifty of the best men and women are laid to rest there.”

  Tanis and Adalita were silent as the harrowing story was left to settle. With a wry smile Jader kicked at the tusk dust on the cavern floor.

  “When I found you, Tanis, I thought the Tall Lady had attacked the Border Village. My senses were reeling from her stink. It was like she was standing right next to me. But it wasn’t her. And nothing in the village had changed. Except for you. I thought of killing you on the spot, but you were clearly no threat to anyone. So I decided to study you. Keep the poison of my life close. Until today, all I’d seen was a hapless village boy stumbling around the forest like a newborn babe. Then this happened.”

  Jader gestured at the grisly corpse.

  “That wasn’t enhanced strength,” he said intently. “Only the skrim know the Baredain arts. No - that was dire magic. You have the taint. Now I need to decide whether you live or die.”

  Tanis didn’t recoil from that. On the contrary, he’d been expecting it, as if he’d somehow always known. Adalita had gone pale and looked ready to defend Tanis if it came to that, but the fledgling ranger placated her with a look. The reality was that Jader would’ve killed him already if he wanted to stamp out the so-called ‘taint’.

  “I wa
nt Dahal Rane,” Tanis said, knowing as the words came out that he’d never been more certain of anything in his life. Jader looked back at him with jet black understanding.

  “Aye, boy,” he said. “The Fellowship has officially waged war on humans. Elves, dwarves, orcs. Hundreds of foreign emissaries have been executed. Orcs march through the Southern Reaches as we speak. Rosten wants us to hold the Dawn Forest until reinforcements arrive. Sixteen rangers against the Great Southern Enclave. Sixteen rangers and you. Whatever you are.”

  9 - Hadley

  As ever in Ardennia, money bought opportunity. With the money she earned from her one-off transaction with the Pleasure Cartel, Hadley rented a crude tenement deep in The Bend. Her room was dark and rank with ancient mildew, but she needed the bulk of her windfall for ongoing expenses. At least until she found Grell.

  Whilst the room itself was cheap, there were hidden expenses that compelled Hadley to question her decision. For starters, the bed was a flea-ridden mess. On the first day she burned the sheets and scrubbed the rickety bed frame until her hands bled. Fresh cotton sheets didn’t come cheap, further eating into her resources. She also needed to scrub the blackened hearth, replace the rocks, stock the wood croft and buy a skillet. Once the room was in tolerable shape she tested the hearth only to discover that the chimney was blocked a fair way up the flute. So much for cooking her own meals. As she didn’t fancy engaging one of the young sweeps cavorting in the streets, Hadley was happy to go without heat for the time being. Besides, she was able to find a clothier and kit herself out in simple merchant wear. Four under shirts, a plain brown vest with matching splayed ankle-length dress. Drab, clean, practical and, most importantly, unassuming. It was a delight to walk the streets and not feel like an outsider.