Lord of the White Hell book Two

Chapter Twenty four

Bar the gates!" Kiram didn't wait for the two footmen to respond.

He threw himself against the heavy wrought iron. The hinges groaned and squealed as if they hadn't been moved in decades.

"Soldiers are riding against the Grunito house!" Kiram shouted. "Help me get these gates closed, damn it!"

A young Cadeleonian footman opened his mouth to question Kiram but then, catching Kiram's expression, he and his companion simply threw their weight against the gates, slamming them closed. It took all three of them to lift the thick crossbars into place and lock them down. Even as heavy as they were Kiram knew the bars wouldn't hold for long, not against two dozen mounted soldiers.

"They're armed so don't try to fight them," Kiram told the two footmen. "But don't open the gates for them either. Make them break them down. We need all the time we can get."

Both the footmen blanched-their eyes were wide and scared now. One of them nodded to Kiram. He left it at that.

His lungs burned and his body was drenched with sweat, but he still raced as fast as he could for the house. Inside he caught a Haldiim servant whom he'd seen directing the household staff.

The woman looked alarmed by the sight of Kiram and even more worried when Kiram grabbed her arm.

"There are mounted soldiers coming to assault the wedding party," Kiram gasped at her.

"I beg your pardon, young Master Kir-Zaki?"

"Soldiers are riding here to attack the wedding party, damn it!" Kiram dragged in a deep breath of air. He didn't have time for this, but he couldn't do it all on his own either. "Someone needs to warn them in the chapel. The Hellions' horses need to be saddled and they'll need weapons. We have fifteen minutes, maybe less."

For an instant the woman looked as if she hadn't understood a single word Kiram had said. Then her eyes locked on his and realization dawned in her expression.

"How many soldiers?" Her face had gone gray but her voice remained calm.

"At least two dozen of the royal bishop's men. They've poisoned their blades and they're riding warhorses. They'll have the gate down in no time."

"Then we will need to be quick," the woman replied. Kiram nodded. His legs already ached and his head still pounded.

The woman called out orders to other members of the staff and suddenly the hall echoed with of shouts of acknowledgment and alarm. Men and women in the Grunito house colors raced to fulfill a flurry of orders: warning the wedding party, readying horses and securing the house for an assault. Wedding garlands were dropped. Trays of tiny cakes and Kir-Zaki sweets were abandoned to the dogs.

"You'd better be right about this," the Haldiim woman warned Kiram and there was something about her tone that made Kiram think briefly of his mother.

"I wish I weren't, but I am right," Kiram responded. "I'll gather the Hellions' saddlebags and their weapons. Can you send a few footmen up to help me?"

She nodded and Kiram bolted up the stairs. He tore through the Hellions' rooms, hurling their half-packed saddlebags to footmen and gathering the best weapons he could lay his hands on.

From his own trunk he only took the few supplies he could shove in his pockets. His bow, quiver and knives were far more important at the moment. He quickly strung his bow and slipped it and his quiver over his shoulders. Then he swept up Javier's saddlebags and sword and sprinted back down the stairs.

He ran for the chapel. He was halfway across the green lawn when a metallic scream wrenched the air. Men shouted threats and obscenities as the clang of hooves pounding down the Grunito gate rang out. Kiram saw terror in the faces of the servants as they ran for the shelter of the main house.

Ahead of him the chapel doors flew open. Elezar and Javier rushed out, both unarmed but standing at the doors as if they could defend the chapel with just the ferocity of their glares. The delicate beauty of their silk clothes struck Kiram as pitiful protection after seeing the heavy leather armor and long swords of the bishop's men.

"Go now!" Javier shouted back into the chapel.

Cadeleonian men and women in silks and jewels burst from the chapel. Kiram wove between them, catching glimpses of familiar faces and briefly meeting the terrified glances of strangers. Lady Grunito carried one of her young sons in her arms and Lord Grunito swept up another of the boys when he tripped. Kiram thought he saw Nestor and Riossa running side by side as he dodged through the chaos of fleeing wedding guests. He lurched out of the way of two beefy choirboys and sped through a gaggle of women in velvet gowns. At last he broke clear of the panicked crowd and reached Javier. He tossed him his sword.

"Well done, Underclassman Kiram." Javier gave him the briefest smile; then his attention returned to the grounds ahead of him.

"Take this." Kiram handed one of Majdi's long fighting knives over to Elezar. "Your long sword is with your horse. They should-"

Timoteo and several footmen sprinted past them, their arms loaded with gold chalices and jewel-studded books. They raced down across the lawn towards the house. Then Atreau and Morisio appeared at the doors.

"Everyone's out," Morisio told Javier. His face looked clammy with sweat and Atreau was pallid as a corpse.

Javier glanced to Kiram. "You were saying something about horses?"

"They should be saddled and ready by now," Kiram informed him. "I had weapons sent to the stables as well."

"Thank God for you, Kiram," Atreau whispered. And even Elezar gave him a nod of acknowledgment.

"There are other soldiers-" Kiram began to explain but Javier cut him off.

"Tell me on the way to the stable."

Then all five of them bolted for the stables. Kiram shouted what he had overheard of the captain's plans as they ran.

"So if we can get past these two dozen soldiers we'll still be trapped between the twelve mounted soldiers at the High Street and pikemen at the city gate." Javier shook his head. "This is a hell of a day to have a hangover."

Atreau simply moaned in response. Morisio gave a strained laugh.

In the stables Kiram found that Verano had been saddled for him to ride and that Nestor had saddled a roan gelding for himself. He looked oddly contradictory tightening a girth while dressed in a resplendent red brocade coat and dusted with gold powder.

"What do you think you're doing?" Elezar demanded of Nestor.

"Fighting beside my fellow Hellions," Nestor responded.

"You should be with your wife-" The rest of Elezar's argument was drowned out by the loud sounds of Atreau vomiting into a feed pail.

"You need all the help you can get," Nestor said. "And you don't have time to argue."

"He's right. The more of us there are the better our chances of taking the city gates." Javier swung up onto Lunaluz's back. He frowned down at Atreau. "Can you do this?"

"Certainly." Atreau shoved his black hair back from his face. Just looking at them Kiram felt sure they wouldn't last in a fight, certainly not against rested professional soldiers. Atreau looked dead already-his skin even more pale than Javier's. And then an idea came to Kiram.

"Javier, you and Atreau should change coats. And Atreau you should ride Morisio's gray stallion."

"What?" Atreau asked.

"Why?" Elezar demanded at the same moment.

Realization lit Nestor's face. "Brilliant! Atreau and Javier look enough alike that they could be mistaken for each other at a glance."

"Right," Kiram said. "When we reach the High Street Atreau and Morisio will ride for the dock. At the fourth pier you'll find a ship called the Red Witch. It's my brother's ship. Tell them Kiram sent you and he will see that you're safe."

"So we'll be drawing off the riders from the High Street?" Morisio asked.

"They'll have to split their numbers to pursue two parties," Kiram responded.

"I don't like Atreau posing as me." The concern in Javier's voice was obvious to them all.

"Honestly, it'll do your reputation with the ladies some good," Atreau responded with a wan smile, then swung up onto Morisio's light gray stallion. "I want to do it, Javier. I may be in no shape to fight but I can stay on a horse's back even in my sleep. I can be sick on a ship just as well as I can be sick on the road. And this way there will be fewer men after you when you take the city gates."

"I'll make sure he's safe," Morisio added.

They didn't have time to argue, Javier had to know that. He didn't look happy but he exchanged his formal black and silver coat for Atreau's amber one.

"All right." Javier's spoke coolly, his expression hard. "We go into the woods and draw the bishop's men from the front gate. Once they're amidst the trees, we circle back and make for the street."

Suddenly the crashing noise in the distance went silent. The front gate of the Grunito house had fallen.

There were no questions; they simply rode as Javier commanded, racing to reach the wooded cover of the Grunitos' private hunting grounds.

Kiram's pulse surged as the thunder of the horses charging from behind rolled over him. A rider shouted for them to halt and invoked the name of the royal bishop. Javier responded with an obscene gesture and then they all swept into the shadows of the woods.

Only a few yards in, Javier reined Lunaluz off the dirt path and into the thickest trees. Kiram and the rest of the Hellions followed. First Atreau and then Morisio surged past Kiram. The terrifing awareness that he was falling behind gripped him. Branches brushed past his face as he veered between trees. Wild birds startled into flight and still he knew he wasn't riding fast enough. Already he'd lost sight of Javier. Then Nestor swept in beside him.

"I think we've got them all in the woods now!" Nestor shouted over the thunder of horses' hooves.

A glance back assured Kiram that they had. A wall of men in leather armor riding huge warhorses charged down upon them. Sunlight flashed on the naked blades of their swords.

Kiram clenched his reins and despite his fear of falling he urged his mount ahead faster.

Behind him the royal bishop's men fanned out as the density of trees forced them apart. Ahead Kiram glimpsed a white stallion flashing between the dark trunks of the old oaks.

"Right!" Elezar shouted, his eyes on Nestor. Kiram realized that they had to break clear of the bishop's men now and make for the gate.

Kiram turned his mount to the right, demanding all of the horse's speed for the charge out of the woods. Beneath him, Verano responded with more power than Kiram was prepared for. He nearly slipped from his seat as they suddenly catapulted ahead. Branches slapped his arms and legs. His heart hammered in his throat. The dark shadows of trees blurred as Kiram flashed past them.

And then he was in the open, racing across Lady Grunito's gardens, then out past the ruined front gate and into the open street. Javier and Atreau rode nearly abreast. Morisio charged just behind them. Nestor rode only a few feet to Kiram's right and Elezar came up on his left.

Ahead of them all on High Street, twelve mounted soldiers formed a dark, still line in the midst of bustling carts and carriages.

In an instant they charged Javier and Atreau. Men and women on the street cried out. Cart drivers veered out of the way as best they could. The street became a riot and in the wave of panic, Atreau and Morisio both drove their mounts left towards the docks while Javier rode right into the busy road leading to the city gate.

Kiram followed Javier, as did Nestor and Elezar. Glancing back Kiram saw two of the bishop's men light out after Atreau and Morisio but the rest followed Kiram in his pursuit of Javier.

Ahead of him, Kiram could see why so few of the soldiers had mistaken Atreau for Javier. Mounted on Lunaluz, Javier seemed to fly through the crowded street. They soared over a goat cart as if lifted by magic. They veered and bounded through the press of carriages and street vendors like light skipping across a lake. Even terrified as they were, bystanders stared in awe as Javier passed them. No one else could have been the lord of the white hell.

Kiram's own passage was in no way so easy or majestic. Peddlers and beggars seemed to veer out at him. Wine barrels and oxen appeared in the middle of his path. It took all of his concentration to keep Verano from charging straight into a Mirogoth man and his dog.

Kiram could hear the bishop's men gaining ground behind him and suddenly he remembered the race through Zancoda. He'd done this before, he told himself. He could do it again.

But the women up on the balconies of the buildings weren't throwing down flowers but instead emptying chamber pots, and the riders behind Kiram weren't just after some ribbon. The chaos choking the street seemed impossible to navigate.

Then up ahead of him Kiram saw an opening. He charged forward and found a lane that must have opened in Javier's wake. Kiram thought he could see Nestor's and Elezar's brilliant brocade coats shining ahead of him.

Then a tiny form darted out into the road-a little girl, running for her mother across the street. Kiram jerked Verano back and nearly flew off the horse. He dug into his saddle as Verano turned aside and tossed his head. He steeled himself for a blow from the soldiers pursuing him.

But the bishop's men took no pause. They sped past Kiram into the open road. The little girl froze in terror and then fell beneath the soldiers' horses. Her single pathetic cry crushed to silence in a moment.

Kiram jerked his eyes away from the bloody dress and broken limbs. He heard a woman screaming but couldn't bring himself to look at her. The cold, terrible reality of just what these men would do rushed over Kiram.

At Kiram's urging, Verano leapt clear of the child's remains and surged after the bishop's men. One of them bore down on Elezar and a second shot after Nestor. The remaining eight tore after Javier. Kiram only wondered briefly why he had been of no interest to them. The bishop's men were expecting to hunt down well-dressed Cadeleonian noblemen fleeing from a wedding, not some Haldiim boy wearing traveler's leathers. He was nothing to them, just as that child had been.

The clash of blades rang out as one of the bishop's men swung his sword and Elezar parried the blow and then struck back with such force that the other man tumbled from his horse. Kiram glimpsed Elezar's expression then. He looked terrified. Following his glance, Kiram saw why.

The man pursuing Nestor was almost on top of him and Nestor didn't even know it. Elezar rode for his brother, but Ki- ram could see that he wouldn't arrive before the soldier's naked blade drove through Nestor's back.

Kiram's heart felt like it was ripping apart in his chest. Fury and frustration at his own helplessness coursed through him. And then Kiram realized that there was something he could do, must do. The thought terrified him-but not so much as watching his friend die.

He urged Verano ahead and gave him free rein, trusting the horse's training and instincts. In a quick shrug he swung his bow from his shoulder and drew an arrow. Kiram concentrated on the man riding down on Nestor as if he were just another of so many targets Kiram had struck. The chaos of the street, Elezar's wild howls of rage, even his own pounding heartbeat seemed to fade.

He released the arrow. It punched through the man's neck. The rider jerked. Then his sword dropped from his hand and he fell beneath his own horse. Only as the horse whinnied and veered to the side did Nestor see it. His face was ashen as he peered through his gold spectacles.

Kiram met Elezar's gaze for just an instant and Elezar nodded to him. Then Elezar closed the distance between himself and his brother. Kiram concentrated on the men pursuing Javier.

Kiram had eleven arrows left and ahead of him rode eight men. No, eight targets. He couldn't think of them as men with faces and families. They were things, things that would kill Javier if they weren't stopped.

Kiram shot two men down before a third turned back from his pursuit of Javier. When the solider laid eyes on Kiram and saw the bow in his hand, his wary expression turned to rage and he charged. Kiram loosed an arrow. But he missed the exposed gap at the man's throat and instead his arrow punched into the thick leather protecting the man's chest. The strike only seemed to enrage the soldier more.

"Haldiim coward!" the soldier screamed. He was close enough that Kiram could see his pale face clearly. Kiram fired a second arrow and this time it drove deep into the soldier's mount, burying up to the fletching in the animal's unprotected leg. The horse fell, throwing its rider like a rag doll into the flagstones of the street. The soldier didn't move again, though the horse struggled piteously to rise.

Kiram felt sick but raced on. The street curved and as Kiram rode past abandoned carriages and overturned flower carts, he saw the bloody bodies of two more of the bishop's men. Just ahead of him, the bishop's three remaining men closed in on Javier.

Javier wheeled Lunaluz around and met the nearest of the soldiers head on. Their blades crashed and rang as they passed and circled each other. Then the other two soldiers attacked Javier's back.

Kiram screamed a warning but still one of the soldiers landed a blow across Javier's shoulder. Kiram buried a black arrow in the man's skull. The remaining two soldiers were already on Javier and he parried their blows with a blinding speed. But Kiram saw Javier's blood spill across Lunaluz's white hide.

The combat was too close for Kiram to dare release another arrow. He raced to reach Javier's side.

Javier swore in Cadeleonian and Haldiim. Lunaluz reared back, striking at the other horses. Then Javier plunged his sword into one of the soldier's chests. The man rocked back and toppled from his saddle. Javier spun his blade back, parrying a blow from his one remaining attacker. The soldier thrust for Javier's thigh but Javier moved faster, driving his sword up through the man's leather armor and severing his neck.

The soldier's head struck the ground a moment before his body. The flagstones of the street were slick and red with blood.

When Kiram reached Javier's side he could see that Javier had received at least two deep slashes, one across his right shoulder and another just above his left knee.

"I'm fine," Javier said before Kiram could ask.

"Their swords were poisoned."

"That would explain the familiar tingling." Javier flashed a hard smile, all teeth and bravado. "Honestly, I'm beginning to find muerate poison a little passe."

"I'm serious."

"I know. But let's not frighten the children. We've still got a city gate to get past." Javier pointed and Kiram turned back to see Elezar and Nestor round the corner. All semblance of gold dust was long gone from their faces and Elezar's coat front was spattered with blood, though as far as Kiram could see he looked unhurt. They drew to a halt beside Kiram and Javier.

"How bad?" Elezar asked, taking in Javier's injuries.

"I'll live. You two?"

"Safe and whole, thanks to Kiram" Nestor responded. "Good shooting."

Kiram just nodded. He was glad to have saved Nestor and Javier, but the fact that he'd murdered five men wasn't something he was ready to feel proud of.

"The two soldiers who went after Atreau and Morisio apparently lost them and came back for you," Elezar informed Javier. "They've been dealt with."

That explained the blood on Elezar's coat. Nestor looked a little queasy.

In the relative quiet Kiram could hear alarm bells ringing. People watched them warily from balconies and the doorways of shops.

"The men we lost at the Grunito house will probably have regrouped by now. They'll follow us up from High Street, I'll bet," Kiram commented.

Javier nodded his agreement almost absently. He scanned the discarded and abandoned carts, wagons and barrels that littered the street around them.

"Any thoughts about the city gates?" Elezar asked Javier.

"One." Javier offered them all a smug smile. "What do you say to dazzling them with a little hellfire?"

Kiram knew better than to point out that the 'hellfire' hadn't been all that dependable or that Javier didn't seem to be in any condition to control the shajdi even if he could summon it. Javier gave him a glance as if expecting an objection.

"Hellfire sounds good as anything else at this point," Elezar replied. Nestor nodded his agreement.

"All right. Then we need those jars of oil." Javier pointed to the red clay jars in a cart. He glanced at Kiram. "You don't by chance remember the name of that lieutenant who's waiting for us with his pikemen, do you?"

"Montaval," Kiram supplied.

"Good. Then I think we're ready to depart Anacleto."

The huge northern gates of Anacleto stood open, but a slow moving sea of merchant's wagons, farm carts and carriages filled the wide street. Herders directed flocks of goats, sheep, and even geese around their fellow travelers. Ahead Kiram recognized the purple crosses and gold bars on the uniforms of the bishop's men. The city guards stood aside, looking annoyed, while the bishop's men harassed traders, travelers and beggars alike in their search for Javier.

When a Mirogoth musician attempted to ride past, he and his horse were nearly impaled on the long pikes that the bishop's men held ready. Even at a distance Kiram could see that the musician was simply drunk. Still the bishop's men knocked him to the ground and searched him for coins and trinkets before allowing him to pass.

Kiram took a deep breath and gauged the route he would ride between carriages and wagons one last time. Nestor, Elezar and Javier would be charging down behind him and he knew he wouldn't have the luxury to pause or slow his ride.

"In the name of the royal bishop, make way!" Kiram shouted. He urged Verano down the slight hill and between two black lacquered carriages.

"A message for Lieutenant Montaval! Make way!" Kiram roared. Men and women bolted out of his path. Kiram didn't dare look back to see how well the confusion in his wake masked Javier, Elezar and Nestor's passage through the crowd.

"Make way!" Kiram drew as much attention to himself as he could. "A message for Lieutenant Montaval! In the name of the royal bishop, make way!"

Hearing his name called, the lieutenant commanded travelers to the side, just as Javier had said he would.

Verano dodged a slow-moving old man and nearly threw Kiram as he leaped past two snarling Mirogoth hounds.

Ahead of him a path cleared. The city guards looked curious but made no attempt to approach. They left Kiram to Lieutenant Montaval and his hulking pikemen. The portly lieutenant started towards Kiram. The pikemen studied him, some with curiosity, others with suspicion. But not one of them watched the movements to Kiram's left.

"Message for Lieutenant Montaval!" Kiram hollered as if he could some how fail to recognize who the lieutenant was.

"What's your damn message!" the lieutenant demanded.

Verano pranced and snorted beneath Kiram, seeming to catch Kiram's nervous energy.

"Javier Tornesal is on his way!" Kiram pointed back through the crowd and out to his right, where a group of horse traders mingled among carriages and carts.

As the lieutenant and his pikemen turned to the right, Nestor and Elezar hurled their oil jars at the pikemen. The clay shattered, spattering oil, and Javier charged forward. White flames gushed from his hands and wild sparks sprayed out. In an instant the oil caught fire and the pikemen fled or fell burning. Lieutenant Montaval spun on Kiram and Kiram kicked the man back into the wall.

Javier charged past the burning gates and Kiram joined Elezar and Nestor behind him. Mounted city guards lit out behind them but gave up the chase soon after the road turned into the wild northern woods. Kiram suspected that the speed with which they abandoned their pursuit had more to do with their resentment of the royal bishop's troops than the threatening shadows of the forest.

Still the shadows gave Kiram a chill and sped his heart as they seemed to snake and dance between the wind-tossed branches.

As they continued riding, fatigue and a growing familiarity with the forest darkness wore away the edge of Kiram's nervousness. As much as the surrounding shadows seemed to move and watch, the road they traveled seemed always the same. Hours passed. Hunger gnawed at Kiram's stomach. The sunlight dimmed and cold evening winds whipped over the open expanse of the road. At last Javier signaled them to halt.

Kiram's legs almost buckled beneath him as he swung off Verano. Nestor moaned softly and rubbed his own back.

The four of them stumbled off the road and found a small glade where the horses could feed on wild grass and flowers.

The only bedding to be found were mats of soft moss and saddle blankets. Nestor had brought several wedding cookies and a goat-skin of water but there was nothing else to eat or drink. Kiram knew that hunting now would only waste his remaining arrows. It was far too dark to find any animal, much less hit one.

"Help yourselves to my share of the bounty. I'm too tired to care." Elezar dropped down onto his saddle blanket and closed his eyes.

"Wait!" Nestor dug into his dusty coat. "I have a couple marzipan pears, as well. Here, Elezar, you love them."

Elezar gave no response, but Javier took one and thanked Nestor. Kiram frowned down at Elezar's still form. In the dim light he couldn't be sure but it seemed to him that some of the blood on Elezar's coat was still wet.

"Here, Kiram." Nestor handed him a golden cookie studded with candy rosettes. Kiram ate it thankfully and drank a little of Nestor's water.

"Should we make a fire?" Kiram asked.

"It's not cold enough that we'll freeze without one. And the light will only attract unwanted attention." Javier winced as he knelt down on his blanket. He ran his hand over his thigh. The deep shadows didn't quite hide the look of pain on his face. Then a little light flickered beneath his hands and Javier relaxed back against the trunk of a tree.

"We all just need to rest right now," Javier murmured and then he fell silent. After a few more moments, Kiram heard his breathing deepen and slow to the rhythm of sleep.

"I feel like one of us should keep guard, or something," Nestor said quietly.

"Do you think you could stay awake?" Kiram asked.

"No," Nestor admitted.

"Me either," Kiram replied. "At least if we sleep we'll all be rested by the morning."

"True," Nestor agreed. They both settled in their blankets. Kiram watched the overhead stars. Nestor nibbled the last of his marzipan pear.

"Hell of a honeymoon," Nestor sighed softly, almost speaking to himself.

"I'm sorry about that."

"Couldn't be helped, could it?" Nestor responded.

"You could have stayed at the Grunito house."

"Nah." Nestor shook his head. "Even Riossa knew that I had to stand with my friends when it came to a fight." Nestor lay back in his blanket.

Kiram could think of a lot of men and women who wouldn't have agreed with that sentiment. Certainly Musni wouldn't have put a friend's welfare before his own pleasure.

"You're the best friend any man could hope for, Nestor."

"Thanks." Nestor sounded touched and being a Cadeleonian no doubt the sentiment embarrassed him a little. "No point in falling in love with me, though. I'm a married man now."

Kiram laughed and then he wished Nestor good night. Nestor gave a groggy response, already settling into sleep.

Kiram's blanket reeked of animal sweat but he didn't care. He was just relieved that they had all gotten away. He glanced again to Elezar. He lay so still, his chest hardly rising with breath. Kiram wondered if he should wake him. Elezar would hate that. Doubtless he'd call Kiram some filthy name. Elezar shifted a little and Kiram let go of his worry.

He slept and dreamed of screaming horses and the sound of arrows plunging into living flesh. Blood spilled, turned black, and moved like a dark stream as it pooled around Kiram. Something cold and terrible pierced his flesh, plunging deep into his chest. A dark hand held him against escape. He tried to cry out but he couldn't draw a breath.

Kiram.

The voice was soft and familiar. The pain of his dream seemed to lift.

Kiram, you must wake up.

Alizadeh, Kiram thought and even in his sleep his hand curled around the lotus medallion he wore.

Wake up! You are in danger andyour friend is dying!

Kiram's eyes shot open. Predawn light and long blue shadows filled the small glade. Alizadeh stood a few feet in front of him beneath a tall elm tree. A cold wind rustled through the branches and Alizadeh's form flickered and shuddered and for an instant Kiram glimpsed black crows' wings and glassy eyes staring at him from the hollows of Alizadeh's body.

I cannot hide you from the shadow curse much longer. You must be quick. Wake the others.

Kiram staggered to his feet. He shook Nestor awake and then Javier, but Elezar only groaned. His body felt like ice.

"Who is that?" Nestor stared at Alizadeh and held his blanket close as if he'd been found naked. "How did he find us?"

"It's all right, Nestor. He's my teacher." Javier stepped closer to Alizadeh and held up his hand in a Bahiim gesture of welcome that Alizadeh returned.

The shadow curse is hunting you and you are too far from the Circle of Red Oaks for me to hide your presence any longer. Alizadeh's voice carried over them like a whispering breeze.

Still lying in his saddle blanket, Elezar opened his eyes but didn't seem to see Kiram, much less Alizadeh. He closed his eyes again and didn't respond as Kiram shook him harder.

Ride the Old Road, Alizadeh told Javier. The blessed willows will know the shajdi's light and protect your path to the foot of Zancoda. Butyou must be fast. Death is already among you.

Alizadeh suddenly turned his head, and again Kiram caught the flash of crow's feathers and sharp beaks. Alizadeh looked straight at Elezar.

As if pulled by an invisible force Elezar's eyes opened and he lifted his head to face Alizadeh.

If you throw away your life, boy, then I will lay claim to it. Your strength is needed now. Rise and live!

Alizadeh shuddered and then his body broke apart as if it were no more than a play of light upon the elm leaves. Hundreds of black crows rose from the surrounding trees. They circled and then plunged down upon Elezar. Kiram fell back as a powerful wind pushed him aside. Nestor cried out in horror and stumbled to his feet. Only Javier remained still and calm.

The crows struck Elezar like shadows, falling across his body without leaving a mark. Yet with each impact Elezar gasped in a breath and shook. Color rose in his cheeks and light shone in his gaze. Then the crows were gone and the entire forest seemed strangely quiet.

Elezar sat up, breathing fast, his face sweating and flushed.

"You should have told me you were injured!" Javier frowned at Elezar.

"You had enough to worry about." Elezar looked away.

"Your death wouldn't exactly take a load off my mind, Elezar," Javier snapped.

Elezar's jaw worked and he sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

Kiram supposed that was the best any of them could hope for but Nestor looked deeply hurt. Despite Elezar's embarrassed expression Nestor threw his arms around his older brother, hugging him and then bursting into tears.

"Nestor." Elezar's face flushed deeper red but his voice went soft. "Nestor, I won't do it again, all right. I promise. I'm fine. Nestor, you have to let me get up."

Nestor drew back and wiped his face with his dirty shirtsleeve. "You better not die."

"Same goes for you," Elezar returned. Kiram didn't think he'd ever seen Elezar look so touched or so self-conscious all at once.

"All right. Now that we're all agreed that staying alive is the course we want to follow," Javier interrupted, "we need to get moving. There is something worse than the bishop's men after us now. If it catches us I'm not sure that any of us will survive."

"What do you mean?" Elezar asked. "What is it?"

"The Tornesal curse." Javier rolled up his saddle blanket and quickly buckled his sword belt around his waist. He didn't offer any further explanation but both Nestor and Elezar seemed to catch his urgency.

They gathered their gear and saddled the horses. Kiram's mouth tasted like dirt and his hair was full of fallen leaves and moss. His body ached and the morning cold numbed his fingers. But despite clumsy discomfort, the memory of the shadow curse hunting him sped his movements.

"The Tornesal curse?" Nestor fumbled with his stirrup and then climbed into his saddle.

Javier gave him a curt nod but his attention was on the surrounding trees. He stroked Lunaluz's neck absently.

"It's taken possession of Fedeles and we have to get to the academy if we're going to stop it and save him," Kiram explained.

"And that man just now, was he a ghost? Or some kind of forest spirit?" Nestor asked. "What does he teach you?"

Javier sprang up into his saddle. "He's a Bahiim, a Haldiim holy man. He's been training me since I converted."

Nestor gaped at Javier. "You converted?"

"I knew something was going on," Elezar grumbled. "You never used to hang around in trees day and night."

Kiram silently mounted his own horse.

"So, it was Bahiim magic that saved Elezar just now, wasn't it?" Nestor asked.

Javier nodded and whatever gripe Elezar might have voiced against Javier's conversion went unspoken.

"Can you do that?" Nestor asked Javier. "I mean, turn into birds or bring someone back to life?"

"No." Javier shook his head. "Magic like that takes years of practice and requires a kind of self control that I haven't mastered."

"But Kiram's been part of the Haldiim religion all his life. I bet he knows all kinds of magic." Nestor looked excited and Kiram realized that Nestor was as delighted by Bahiim magic as he'd been with the idea of Mirogoths who could transform themselves into wolves.

"No such luck," Kiram informed Nestor. "I know less about it than Javier does."

A cold chill passed over them and suddenly the entire forest around them seemed darker. Elezar sat up straight in his saddle and Nestor gasped. Birds flew from the surrounding trees. Wild hares and squirrels fled as if racing to escape a fire.

"What was that?" Elezar demanded.

"The shadow curse. We don't have time to talk. We have to find the Old Road. Now." Javier urged Lunaluz ahead.

They followed Javier through the forest as he searched among stands of gnarled trees and around moss covered outcroppings of stone. Kiram had no idea what Javier was looking for and apparently Javier didn't either. When Nestor asked, Javier simply told him that he'd know when he found it.

The shadows around them deepened and every twig that cracked beneath the horses' hooves echoed through the eerie quiet of the seemingly empty forest. Kiram tried to ignore the sharp cramps cutting into his belly, but when Nestor groaned and gripped his gut, Kiram realized that he wasn't the only one feeling the shadow curse's presence. Even the horses seemed agitated and uncomfortable. Kiram murmured soothing words to his mount while Javier turned Lunaluz back and forth through the forest.

Then at the edge of a stream, Javier stopped his restless search. Two huge willows stood on either side of the mossy stream bank.

"Here." Javier urged Lunaluz down into the shallow waters. "Come quickly and stay close to me."

The huge willows bowed over the stream, their long branches dangling into the waters and obscuring the view ahead.

Javier whispered words that Kiram only half understood: the names of ancient deities and invocations of arcane guardians. An eerie cool wind whipped through the willow branches. They swayed and trembled like anxious fingers. Javier raised his arms and flexed his hands as if he were wrenching some invisible cord asunder. As Javier jerked his arms apart, a loud crack sounded and the ground trembled. All the horses except Lunaluz pranced nervously. Kiram soothed Verano as best he could.

"This path is mine to take. I will not be barred from it!" Javier shouted. His tone alone was enough to make Nestor startle. Elezar scanned the surrounding woods as if expecting an attack.

White flames gushed from Javier's hands and leaped into the branches of the willow trees. But like the trees in the Circle of Red Oaks they did not burn but instead lit up like stained glass in sunlight. A second shudder passed through the ground beneath them and the waters flowing over the stream bed parted to reveal a path of white stones etched with Bahiim symbols.

Overhead the willow branches curled back like gleaming glass curtains, revealing a delicate white archway and the flat darkness within it. Kiram knew that there should be more of the streambed on the other side, not this deep blackness.

A dry, bitter breeze crept from the archway and Kiram shuddered as it brushed over his face. He remembered the smell of the poison Rafie had made and the feeling of his grandmother's dead hand in his own. Beneath him, Verano shivered.

White flames spread over Javier's body as he lowered his arms and took up his reins. Then he urged Lunaluz ahead and they plunged into the darkness of the archway.

Without a word, Kiram, Elezar and Nestor followed him.