The Last Guardian

CHAPTER THIRTY

Back at her cabin Beth was happily surprised to find no damage from the earthquakes. In the fields below there were still pits and chasms, and several trees had fallen; but on the flat ledge of the hillside where Bull had chosen to place the McAdam home, there was no evidence of movement at all.

The sandy-haired rider grinned at Beth. 'If you say "I told you so", Bull, I'll crack your skull,'

Beth said to him.

'Me? The thought never crossed my mind.' He tethered his horse and helped Beth carry the wounded Steiner into the house.

'I can walk, dammit,' Steiner grumbled.

'I ain't having those stitches opening again,' Beth told him. 'Now keep quiet.'

Bull and the children manhandled the furniture from the wagon, while Beth fuelled the iron stove and set a pot of Baker's to simmer. As dusk stained the sky, Bull rose.

'Best be getting back to Meneer Scayse,' he said. 'I reckon there'll be enough to do there. You want me to bring you anything tomorrow?'

'If there's anything left in the town, I wouldn't mind some salt.'

‘I’ll fetch it — and some dried beef. You're looking mighty low on stores.'

‘I’m short on Barta coin, Bull. I'll have to owe you.'

'You do that,' he said. She watched him ride off and shook her head, allowing a smile to show.

Now he wouldn't make a bad husband, she thought. He's caring, strong, and he likes the kids. But the face of Jon Shannow cut across the smiling image of Bull. 'Damn you for a fool, Shannow!'

whispered Beth.

Samuel and Mary were sitting by the stove, Samuel's head resting against the wall, his eyes closed. Beth walked to him, lifting him from his feet. His eyes opened and his head dropped to her shoulder. 'It's bed for you, snapper-gut,' she said, carrying him into the back room and laying him down. She didn't bother to strip his clothes, but removing his shoes she covered him with a blanket.

Mary came in behind her. 'I'm not tired, Ma. Can I sit up for a while?'

Beth looked into the child's puffy eyes. 'You can snuggle in next to your brother, and if you're still awake in an hour you can sit with me.' Mary grinned sheepishly and climbed under the blanket; she was asleep within minutes.

Beth returned to the main room and lit the fire, then walked out on to the porch where Bull had erected a bench seat made from a split log, planed and polished. She sat back and stared over the moonlit valley. The Wall was down everywhere, although some sections still reared like broken teeth. She shivered.

'Nice night,' observed Steiner, limping out to sit beside her. His face was pale, dark rings staining the skin beneath his eyes.

'You're a damn fool,' said Beth.

'And you're as pretty as a picture under moonlight,' he told her,

'Except for the nose,' she replied. 'And it's no good making up to me, Clem Steiner. Even if I let you, it would kill you for certain.'

There's truth in that,' he admitted. Beth continued to stare at the horizon. 'What are you thinking?'

he asked.

'I was thinking about Shannow — not that it's any of your business.'

'You in love with him?'

'You're a prying sort of fella, Steiner.'

'You are then. You could do worse, I guess — except I don't see you travelling the world looking for some city that don't exist.'

'You're right. Maybe I should marry you.'

'That's not a bad thought, Frey McAdam,' he responded, smiling. 'I can be right good company.'

'You've been hiding that light under a bushel,' she said sharply.

He chuckled. 'Come to think of it, that is a pretty big nose.' She laughed and her tension eased.

Clem stretched his wounded leg out in front of him and rubbed at it. 'Does Shannow know how you feel?' he asked, his voice low and serious.

Beth cut off a sharp retort. 'I told him — in a way. But he won't change. He's like you.'

'I've changed,' he said. 'I don't want to be a pistoleer; I couldn't give a damn about reputations. I had a father who beat the Hell out of me. He said I'd never make anything of my life and I guess I've been trying to prove him wrong. Now I don't care about that no more.'

'What will you do?'

‘I’ll find a nice woman. I'll raise kids and corn.'

'There's some hope for you yet, Clem Steiner.' He was about to answer when he spotted two riders angling up towards the house.

'Strange-looking pair,' said Beth. 'Look how the moonlight makes their hair seem white.'

Shannow was ill at ease as they rode. The dreams had unnerved him, but worse than that he had the constant feeling he was being watched. Time and again he would turn in the saddle and study the skyline, or alter the direction in which they travelled, dismounting before the crest of every hill.

But now the city was ahead of them, and still the feeling would not pass.

'What is troubling you?' Nu asked. 'We should have been at the city hours ago.'

'I don't know,' admitted Shannow. 'I feel uncomfortable.'

'No more than I feel, perched on this horse,' responded Nu.

A rabbit darted across their path and Shannow's guns swept up. He cursed softly, then flicked the stallion's flanks with his heels.

The city was protected by a great Wall, but the recent earthquakes had scored it with cracks.

There were no gates, but as they entered the city Shannow could see deep holes in the stones where hinges had once been placed.

'The gates,' Nu told him, 'were of wood and bronze, emblazoned with the head of a lion. And this entrance would take you through the Street of Silversmiths, and on to the Sculptors' Quarter. My home was close by.'

People in the streets stopped and stared at the riders. There was no animosity here, only curious gazes. There were more women than men, Shannow noticed, and they were tall and well-formed

— their clothes mainly hide, beautifully embroidered.

He halted his horse. 'I seek the Dark Lady,' he said, removing his hat and bowing. The nearest woman smiled and pointed to the east.

'She is in the High Tower with Oshere,' she answered.

'God's peace upon you,' Shannow told her.

'The Law of the One be with you,' she replied.

The horses' hooves clattered on the cobbled street. 'In my time, no beasts were allowed into this quarter,' said Nu. 'The residents found the smell of manure less than appealing.'

A bent and crippled shape loomed before them, and Shannow's mind was hurled back to Shir-ran.

His stallion reared, but he calmed it with soft words. The Man-beast ambled past, not able to lift his huge, misshapen head.

'Poor soul,' said Nu, as they walked their horses on.

The street widened into a statue-lined road that stretched, arrow-straight, towards a tall palace of white marble. 'Pendarric's summer home,' explained Nu. 'It also houses the temple.' The road ended at a colossal stairway more than a hundred paces wide, slowly rising to an enormous archway.

'The Steps of the King,' said Nu. Like the road the steps were lined with statues, each one carved from marble and each bearing a sword and a sceptre. Shannow urged on the stallion and rode the steps; Nu dismounted and led the mare after him. As the Jerusalem Man reached the archway a slender black woman moved from the shadows to greet him. Shannow recalled the moment he had first seen her, carrying her son from the wreck of the resurrected Titanic. 'Amaziga? You are the Dark Lady?' he said as he climbed down from the saddle.

'The same, Shannow. What are you doing here?' He noted the tension in her voice, the lack of warmth in her eyes.

'Am I such an unwelcome visitor?'

'There are no evils here for you to slay, I promise you that.'

'I am not here to kill. Do you think me such a villain?'

'Then tell me why you are here.'

Shannow saw a movement behind her, deep in the shadows of the archway. A young man appeared; once he must have been strikingly handsome, but now his face was distended and his shoulders bowed. Guiltily Shannow averted his eyes from the man's deformities. 'I asked you a question, Shannow,' said Amaziga Archer.

'I came to warn you of impending perils — and also to see the Sword of God. But it would be pleasant if we could talk inside somewhere.' Nu reached the archway, saw Amaziga and bowed low. 'This is my companion, Nu-Khasisatra. He is from Atlantis, Amaziga, and I think you should hear what he has to say.'

'Follow me,' she said, turning on her heel and striding back through the archway. The deformed man followed her silently, Nu and Shannow bringing up the rear. They found themselves in a wide, square courtyard; Amaziga crossed it, passed a circular fountain and continued on through a huge hallway. Shannow tethered his stallion and Nu's mare in the courtyard and entered the building. It was ghostly quiet within, and their footsteps created eerie echoes.

They mounted a long circular staircase and emerged into a room where Amaziga had already seated herself behind a mahogany desk on which were scattered papers, scrolls and books. She looked younger than Shannow remembered, but her eyes seemed full of sorrow.

'Say what you want to say, Jerusalem Man. Then leave us in whatever peace remains.'

Shannow took a deep breath, stilling the rise of anger he felt. Slowly he told her of the attack on the township of Pilgrim's Valley, and their flight beyond the fractured Wall. He spoke of the woman, Sharazad, and the Parson, and the fears that she was some evil goddess. And he told her of Pendarric. She listened without comment, but her interest grew when Nu began his tale; she questioned him sharply, but his soft-spoken answers seemed to satisfy her. At last, when both men had finished, she asked the deformed man to fetch some drink. Neither Shannow nor Nu had stared at him, and after he had gone Amaziga fixed her eyes on the Jerusalem Man.

'Do you know what is happening to him?' she asked.

'He is turning into a lion,' Shannow answered, holding her gaze.

'How did you know?'

'I met a man, named Shir-ran, who suffered the same horror. He rescued me, gave me aid when I needed it, healed my wounds.'

'What happened to him?'

'He died.'

'I said what happened to him?' Amaziga snapped.

'I killed him,' said Shannow.

Her eyes grew cold, and her smile chilled Nu. 'Now that has a familiar ring, Shannow. After all, how many stories are there concerning the Jerusalem Man when he doesn't kill something — or someone? Have you destroyed any communities lately?'

'I did not destroy your Home Base; Sarento did that when he sailed the Titanic. I merely blocked the power of the Motherstone. But I will not argue with you, Lady, nor debate my deeds. I will leave now and seek the Sword.'

'You must not, Shannow! You must not go near it.' The words hissed from her. 'You do not understand.'

'I understand that the gateway between past and present must be closed. Perhaps the Sword of God will close it. If not, when the disaster befalls Atlantis we could be dragged down with it.'

'The Sword of God is not the answer you seek. Believe me.'

'I will not know until I have seen it,' Shannow told her.

Amaziga's hand came up from below the desk and in it was held a Hellborn pistol. She cocked it and pointed the barrel at Shannow. 'You will promise me to stay away from the Sword — or you will die here,' she said.

'Chreena!' came a voice from the doorway. 'Stop it! Put the pistol away.'

'You don't understand, Oshere. Stay out of this!'

'I understand enough,' said the Man-beast, moving clumsily forward and placing the silver tray on the desk. His deformed hand closed over the pistol, gently removing it from her grasp. 'Nothing you have told me about this man suggests he is evil. Why would you wish to harm him?'

'Death follows wherever he rides. Destruction! I can feel it, Oshere.'

She stood and ran from the room and Oshere laid the pistol on the desk. Shannow leaned forward and uncocked it. Oshere eased himself into the chair Amaziga had used, his dark eyes fixed on the Jerusalem Man.

'She is under great strain, Shannow,' he said. 'She thought she had found a way to cure me, but it was only a temporary respite. Now she must suffer again. She loved my brother, Shir-ran, and he became a beast. Now…' He shrugged. 'Now it is my turn. Your arrival made her distraught. But she will gather her strength arid consider what you have said. Now, have some wine, and rest. I will see your horses are taken to a field nearby where there is good grass. Through that door you will find beds and blankets.'

'There is no time to rest,' said Nu. 'The end is near, I can feel it.'

Shannow pushed himself wearily to his feet. 'I had hoped for aid. I thought the Dark Lady would be a person of power.'

'She is, Shannow,' Oshere assured him. 'She has great knowledge. Give her time.'

'You heard Nu. There is no time. We will ride on to the Sword — but first Nu needs to search the Temple sanctuary.'

'Why?' Oshere asked.

'There could be something there that will help me to return home,' Nu told him.

The sound of gunshots came from close by, followed by screams of terror.

'You see!' shouted Amaziga Archer from the doorway, pointing at Shannow. 'Where he rides, death always follows.'