The Unsound Prince Read online

  "He's just worried about you," said Ochren quietly to Arnima. She nodded to show she understood. "Anyway, since when did you start training Arnima?" said Ochren, turning toward Shyleen.

  "As soon as we left Shaker’s Hope," said Shyleen. "Arnima knew Senovila wouldn't like the idea, so we kept it quiet. Women don't fight in Xaan. I guess it's hard for him to accept the possibility."

  Ochren nodded. Her words made sense.

  The cart was now loaded and hidden, and the horses were free to graze or make a run for it if danger threatened. The travellers were ready.

  The company left the camp-site in single file, led by Ochren. They descended from a small hill onto stony ground, and made their way toward the narrow entrance to the gorge. Mudge looked behind him briefly. His companions were all on edge, the usual nerves before a sortie into enemy territory. Bear had recovered quickly. He was still a little weak from his recent lack of activity, but he was ready for some action.

  Colma had originally been accepted by the Rangers because of his hunting experience and bush craft, and partly because they could see Mudge needed his friends about him. Then Liam and Mareet had taken Colma under their wing as they travelled north. They had provided him with some basics in sword work and infighting. His enthusiasm and the close eyes of the others, if he got into trouble, would have to be enough.

  The Rangers moved lightly over the ground, and Mudge felt clumsy by comparison. He took more care where he placed his feet, and the travellers closed quietly on the gorge.

  The high cliffs on either side of the entrance were just ahead. The desert on one side was already on fire with the first touch of sunrise. The gorge, though, was deep in shadow, with nothing visible in its inky blackness.

  Mudge was tempted to scout the area again, but he knew that was more out of nerves than need. Nothing would have changed in the short time since he looked last. He called the Stone lightly and it responded. He realised once more that the Stone would always be with him.

  The company passed into the entrance of the gorge, and the tension increased. Ochren led them cautiously forward, and the blocky outlines of buildings appeared on their right. A tinge of grey was creeping into the sky, and details were becoming clearer.

  Mudge wondered if the Sarkosay had cut these buildings out of the rock themselves, or were just living in something they’d found. The odd, reptilian nature of the creatures didn't seem to go with buildings like these.

  Then too, the doorways were all wrong. They were wider than they were tall, and they came barely a third of the way up the walls. Mudge hesitated for a moment. Maybe these buildings had belonged to the Sarn.

  He thought the original inhabitants must have run on many legs, but stood upright when they were inside. The buildings were clustered in twos and threes on their right, as the company climbed steadily up the sandy bottom of the gorge.

  Ochren made a hand signal toward Liam and Mareet. The two Rangers crossed the gorge to examine one of the structures. They disappeared inside for a while before reappearing and climbing a path to enter another. Ochren motioned for the others to remain stationary until the scouts rejoined them.

  When they did return, Liam shook his head. He tapped his palm with two fingers, a hunter's sign that said the area had been long abandoned.

  The Keeper Stone nudged at Mudge's awareness. As he joined more fully with it, he saw what it was seeing.

  Ahead of them a cloud of red and black energies swirled around a much larger building, one that was set apart from the others. It looked like the entrance to a large storage barn of some kind.

  Mudge touched Ochren on the shoulder, and pointed to the opening. Ochren nodded. As they drew nearer, a smell of marsh gases and rotting freshwater weed grew stronger. Water seeped from the opening, and it was clear the storage room was no longer fit for its original purpose.

  Ochren sketched more hand signals, and the Rangers spread out, taking up hiding places that covered the entrance. Then Ochren continued up the floor of the gorge with Mudge. The thought of being used as bait to draw out the Sarkosay was unnerving, but Mudge had to trust the Rangers to do their job.

  Moments later the red and black spirit energies of the Sarkosay doubled in intensity. Mudge shouted a warning, and reptilian figures, the same grey colour as the rock around them, boiled out of the storage room.

  They scampered on all fours more than stood upright, and it was hard to find anything human in the way they moved. Mudge saw the sheen of mud and water on them. He understood then that they were somehow amphibian.

  The Sarkosay noticed the two humans on the floor of the gorge, and reared upright where they stood. A shrill keening filled the air, and Mudge saw the flicker of red and black energies forming about himself and Ochren.

  He felt the onslaught of despair as the energies thickened, and the will to fight back drained away. Then the Keeper Stone reached out, shielding him. Mudge extended the shield until it covered Ochren, and then the others where they were hiding.

  Liam and Mareet charged from their hiding places and attacked the creatures from the side. Liam sliced the heads off two of them in quick succession, Mareet firing arrows into those on either side of him. Then long claws raked Liam’s left shoulder, and a savage kick knocked the sword from his right hand.

  Gods above those things are fast, growled Bear to himself, cutting his way to Liam's side. Shyleen was also picking off Sarkosay with arrows now. The two men worked desperately, side by side, trying to stay alive. Liam was keeping the creatures at bay with a pair of long knives, but his damaged left arm already felt like lead.

  Bear ran his sword through a Sarkosay directly in front of him. Then he staggered as claws raked down his thigh. An arrow buried itself in the chest of the creature attacking him, and it fell. Bear recovered his footing, but he could feel blood running down inside his breeches.

  The Rangers needed all their skills as they retreated slowly toward the floor of the gorge. Mudge and Ochren were moving in their direction when more of the creatures exploded out of another entrance further along. They bounded across the floor of the gorge faster than Mudge had thought possible.

  Senovila and Ochren cut down the first two, but then Senovila’s sword stuck fast in the body of the next. Another one swarmed up its dead kin and slashed downward towards his face. Senovila lifted his free arm and blocked the blow, but another Sarkosay came in from the side.

  Arnima was already there. She sliced the attacker’s throat before it reached her mate, then slashed the outreached arm of another on the return swing. Senovila wrenched his sword free, and ran it through the Sarkosay above him.

  “Thank you,” he gasped, wishing he’d put more time into getting fit. Either that or he was older than he realised.

  “So I’m not as useless as you thought I was?” said Arnima pleasantly, far too pleasantly. Senovila was wise to the ways of women after years of marriage. He knew he was in a lot of trouble when this was over – if they lived that long.

  Colma drove between them, impaling two of the creatures on a short stabbing spear. His attack sent the Sarkosay scattering. Despite the momentary advantage, it was clear the little group would soon be overwhelmed.

  Mudge had to do something, and do it quickly. His mind whirled desperately, until he thought of something.

  The Keeper Stone acted on his thoughts in an instant, and he heard the long, rolling waves of the Great Dance a moment later. It meant the Mesoans knew about his predicament, but would they come?

  The floor of the gorge began to fill with wisps of light, and the Sarkosay quailed before them. The Rangers looked around in wonder. Then the reptilian creatures retreated toward their storeroom sanctuary, making more high-pitched, keening noises.

  “Into the houses,” snapped Mudge. He didn’t know what was going to happen next, but he didn’t want to be out in the open when it did.

  Ochren led the way, making a run for a square building that sat low on their left. Most of the travellers were right behin
d him. They tumbled through the low, wide door into the gloom inside, and took cover away from any of the openings. The last of them hurtled through the door moments later.

  “Close your eyes!” yelled Mudge. He screwed his eyes shut and placed his hands over them. Some followed his example, some buried their faces in their arms.

  The music changed, becoming louder, and more charged. Even through his hands Mudge could see flashes of red light. He figured the Sarkosay were making a fight of it. The rock beneath their feet groaned ominously, and sharp booms shook the stone building.

  Mudge had the sense of dark shapes marching past the low doorway, and he wondered what they were. The gorge grew darker, at least it seemed that way, and the noise grew deafening. He heard a number of wet, sickening thumps as something, once living, struck the walls of the building. Then there was silence. A deafening silence after the overpowering roar that had preceded it.

  The Great Dance murmured around them, saddened somehow by what had happened. It was disappointed in what the world had become since the days of creation. Mudge opened his spirit senses cautiously, but he could find no trace of the Sarkosay.

  He could sense the Mesoan homeland still passing through the gorge, but the dangerous undertones in the Great Dance had receded. He opened his eyes and looked around the room. He called softly to the others, and they did the same.

  All around them a fine dust sparkled with its own inner light. Mudge felt light-headed. He found himself smiling for no particular reason, and when he looked at the others he found them smiling too. Coloured patterns of light expanded outward from his fingertips, from everyone’s fingertips.

  It felt like all things were possible. As if they were at the beginning of things, the starting point for all possibilities. Then the Mesoans were gone. It was clear from the others’ faces they felt the loss as well, a sense of bereavement.

  Ochren pointed to the door, and Mudge nodded. With some apprehension, the travellers stepped outside.

  The gorge had been changed forever. Giant fissures ran across the floor of it, and boulders from the slopes above had piled up along the sides. Most of the buildings had been reduced to rubble. It was odd to see the one they’d taken shelter in still standing. Mudge wondered if the Mesoans, or the Keeper Stone, had ensured that.

  Of the Sarkosay there was no sign.

  Then Mudge noticed a spirit power that still remained. He realised it was a connection between the gorge and the power in Xaan, and it was beginning to unravel. He realised he had a rare opportunity to act, but he would have to do so quickly.

  He didn’t want to attract the attention of the evil in Xaan, but they were running out of time. Battle was already joined at Beltainia and Rotor Valley Pass. He needed to know what the League was up against, and that meant using the spirit connection while he could.

  He reached out with his spirit senses, and transported himself along the unravelling connection toward Xaan, though the spirit trail was fragmenting even as he rode it. Before he had time to find a safe arrival point, Mudge found himself at an unknown destination in the city of Xianak.

  "What is this?" snarled a rough voice. "A boy? Some shepherd drudge with a little spirit sense? He must have stumbled into the land of the Udjik, the fool.” The voice seemed to consider the matter for a moment.

  “Commander Uttan, kill him,” it said dismissively.

  Mudge recovered quickly from his sudden relocation to Xianak. He looked around the strange, high-ceilinged room. From the opulence of the furnishings, he figured it must be the Royal Palace. It certainly looked the part. It also seemed that in Xaan the Sarkosay were known as Udjik.

  What worried him most was the fact his body had been transported along with his spirit senses. That meant the threat to kill him was a very real one. A solidly built soldier to his left, with grey in his hair and a regal bearing, drew his sword as he advanced on Mudge.

  "Not here, you fool!" snapped the same commanding voice. It came from somewhere ahead of him. Mudge looked up, and saw a group of people clustered round maps on a long table. One of them wore an ornate costume and headdress. He assumed this was Ottar Bey, the ruler of Xaan.

  Bey seemed a very average, sour-faced man, and rather slight. Mudge wondered why the others so obviously deferred to him.

  Next to him stood one of the tallest women Mudge had ever seen. There was a hard-muscled bearing to her, despite being outfitted as of a lady of the court, and she towered over the others. Her bearing suggested she was used to getting her own way.

  "Of course, Empress Zilan," said the middle-aged commander. He now had a firm grip on Mudge’s upper arm. Turning round, he steered his captive out of the impressive-looking hall at a trot.

  The prince's mind was racing. He had known of Ottar Bey's ascension to the throne through murder and deception, but who was this woman?

  As they left the hall, through a large set of double doors, Mudge remembered Senovila's words about an evil rising in Xaan. Senovila had mentioned a black king, and Ottar Bey certainly fitted that description, but the Empress Zilan seemed to be the one wielding the power.

  Uttan came to an abrupt halt, bringing Mudge to an equally sudden halt beside him. They were standing by the waste area for the kitchens. Mudge realised the commander was going to kill him here, and throw his body on the nearby pile of refuse, so he would be taken out to the farms as compost.

  He smiled. He rather liked the idea of being compost. He hoped his body would be of some use when he no longer needed it. But not today.

  "Sorry about this, shepherd boy," said the burly soldier. He brought his sword round in a hard, flat arc as Mudge turned toward him. He didn't want his captive to suffer more than was necessary.

  Mudge appreciated that. The old soldier wasn't a bad sort, though he had chosen to keep his status as a commander rather than oppose the Empress, when his conscience must have told him she was a manifestation of evil.

  For that reason, Mudge didn't kill him.

  He snuffed out the commander’s consciousness. Uttan collapsed forward as the weight of the sword overbalanced him. The weapon fell from nerveless fingers, and clattered on the cobblestones next to him.

  Mudge wove a small spirit trace around the commander to make sure he remained unconscious, then he retreated to the back of the stables he found next to the kitchens. He opened a spirit connection to the gorge. It would be his way back when he needed it.

  Now that he had an escape route, Mudge was free to investigate this ‘Empress Zilan’ more thoroughly. He sent his spirit senses drifting out over the hall he'd just left, then willed himself inside. Gentle as a wisp of smoke, he dropped below the high ceiling. He sank lower, taking in the activity round the long table.

  Most of those present were what they seemed to be. Some shone with the bright, clear spirit light of a disciplined mind, army commanders and those used to leadership. A cloak of persuasive energies, calculated to bestow status and the right to command, swirled around Ottar Bey, yet he didn't seem to be a spirit mage.

  His powers must come from someone else, decided Mudge. That made him a puppet king, a pawn in someone else’s game of power.

  There were Sarkosay there as well. Short, grey creatures looking incongruous in a commander's cloak and walking awkwardly upright. Their chameleon-like spirit powers made them look normal to the others around the table.

  Mudge looked for the Empress, but he couldn’t find her. He knew she was in the hall, but where? He sensed a powerful spirit veil swirling around the table, and realised she was hiding her presence.

  He let that pass for now. He would learn more about the Royal Palace first, and what was happening here. Information was always the key to winning a war. He would challenge the Empress later.

  Mudge ran his spirit senses out into the many rooms and galleries of the palace, and found nothing unusual. He searched beyond it, and detected something unusual in a large barracks close by. Strange, twisted energies lay coiled inside the dormitories, and Mudge g
ravitated toward the site.

  At first he couldn’t make out what the energies were, and then he saw they came from row upon row of soulless creatures, indistinct to his spirit senses. Each one was larger than a man, and each had been made, created out of inert components. He could sense the unnatural nature of them.

  They were inactive at the moment, but they wouldn't stay that way. Mudge had no doubt they could rise and follow the will of the one who created them if they were called.

  But what were they?

  Mudge felt a warning tap from the Keeper Stone, and felt himself drawn back to his body at the rear of the stables. He heard some excited shouting as a small group formed on the street out front. Someone must have found the commander, and raised the alarm.

  Mudge berated himself for not hiding the unconscious soldier. Ochren or Senovila would not have made such a mistake. Certainly not his father. It made him realise how little experience he had – but he was learning.

  Mudge had a decision to make. Did he want to tackle the Empress now, and find out what her strengths were, or should he and the Keeper Stone return to the gorge and the others?

  He didn’t like the answer, but he clenched his jaw tight in determination. The more he learned about the Empress, the better the chance he would have to destroy her at some later stage. He was going to find out who, or what, she was, right now.

  He sent his spirit form out to the hall, and searched for the veil he had detected earlier. The Keeper Stone formed its own protective shield about him, keeping him hidden. A hint of the spirit veil he had seen before came and went. It was partly in the hall and partly in the netherworld, the entrance to the land of the dead.

  The Empress would be more powerful in the netherworld, much more powerful, as he had found when he pulled Ultrich from her grasp. But in this world, he and the Keeper Stone might have a chance.

  Mudge managed to find a part of the spirit veil he was seeking, a ‘loose end’ that had escaped the Empress’ control. She probably thought such a small thing was insignificant.