The Road to Death

25

Kandler couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy—perhaps on his wedding day, maybe on the day the Treaty of Thronehold ended the Last War, or not ever.

As he held Esprë in his arms, he felt tears welling up in his eyes. By reflex, he choked them back. He hadn’t wept since the Day of Mourning, when he’d realized that Esprina had been caught up in the mysterious massacre, and he wasn’t about to start up again now.

Esprë, on the other hand, had been sobbing openly since the moment Kandler and the others had come into the infirmary. Her whole body shook with relief as she let loose all the fears she’d kept bottled up since the changeling had stolen her from her bed in Mardakine. She seemed like she might never stop shaking, but Kandler resolved to hold on to her until she fell still.

After a long while, Burch came around and put a hand on Esprë’s shoulder, and she turned and threw her arms around him, leaving her body resting in Kandler’s lap.

“Good to see you again, kid,” the shifter said. “They feeding you all right here? Looks like the food’s so rotten most of the solders are nothing but bones.”

Esprë shoved herself back to stare into the shifter’s mischievous eyes, then started to laugh between her sobs. Soon the laughter took over the rest. Then it sloughed away too.

The young elf gazed at each of her visitors in turn: Kandler, Burch, Xalt, Sallah, Brendis—even Berre Stonefist. Then she hugged Kandler again.

“I thought I was all alone, that you were all dead.” The tears returned but softly this time, for joy.

“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” Kandler said, his voice raw with emotion. “I may be only human, but I got a few good years in me yet.”

“Decades,” Esprë whispered to him. “At least.”

Over Esprë’s shoulder, Kandler saw Berre smiling at the two of them. He reached out a hand to her, and she took it in a double-fisted grip. “I never thought I’d say this to a Karrnathi officer,” he said, “but thanks. I owe you.”

“Nonsense,” Berre said. “All we did was help a lost child find her parent. What civilized people would not do the same?”

Brendis spoke up. “The creatures who attacked Mardakine when Esprë was kidnapped wore Karrnathi armor. Some were even Karrnathi dead.”

Berre’s face fell. “I had not heard that.” She looked Kandler in the eyes. “I assure you that none of my troops would be involved in such a crime.”

Kandler nodded. “They had a lot more meat on them than the creatures you have around here.”

“Perhaps they came from Fort Zombie to the west then. If so, it must have been a rogue operation. I know the Captain of Corpses well. He is a good man, and I cannot imagine him perpetrating such an act.”

“They wore the symbols of the Blood of Vol,” Sallah said.

Berre nodded. “As I suspected. While the Blooded are outlawed in Karrnath, they are still a powerful force. Many Karrn subscribe to their sanguine beliefs, holding their blood-drenched services in secret. The zombies of which you speak could have come from anywhere in the nation.”

“Maybe even from Korth,” Kandler said. He did not want to anger his host, nor did he share her apparent trust in her fellow citizens of Karrn.

“I’ll grant that,” she said, “but I would not tar all of the people of Karrn with the same brush.”

“Different brushes it is,” Burch said.

“Where is Te’oma?” Esprë asked, cutting off any reply.

Kandler stiffened, his arms still wound around the young elf.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“She was here when I fell asleep this morning.” She blushed. “I’m still a little worn out from all this, but she wasn’t here when you came in.”

Kandler turned on Berre. “You left her alone with her kidnapper?”

“With a guard outside and one in here.”

“Where’s that guard?” Sallah asked.

Burch kicked a bleached femur from under a nearby bed, rattling what sounded like a pile of them as he did. “I wondered who handled your housekeeping around here.”

Berre cursed. “This is the problem with having to rely on the unliving for everything.” She stuck her head out through the curtained doorway of the room and bellowed, “Lieutenant!”

A moment later, a handsome, dark-haired man charged through the door. “Yes, my captain!” “Where is the changeling?”

The officer glanced at the empty bed across the room from Esprë’s. His rock-steady eyes did not blink. Kandler wondered if they ever did.

“Gone,” the lieutenant said, no expression marring his face. “I will gather a crew to scour the entire fort for her. If she is still here, I will find her.” With that, he turned on his heel and left.

Berre held up her hands in frustration. “Who did I anger to get stationed here among these idiots?” She snarled. “It’s an important post, but it’s on the backend of nowhere. Do you know why the place is staffed with undead? They can’t find anyone else willing to sit here, at least since the war ended. It’s too damned dull.”

The dwarf glanced at Monja. “It’s not that the halflings aren’t worthy adversaries, but we haven’t seen as much as a hunting party within a league of this place in over a year. The biggest excitement we’ve had involved a visit from your lathon, and that was eighteen months ago.”

Berre stormed over to the bed covering the pile of bones and sat down hard on it. “My apologies,” she said. “These are my troubles, not yours. I’ve added enough to yours as it is.”

Monja walked over and put an arm around the dour dwarf’s shoulders. “None of that matters. If we never see this changeling again, we would all be happy. Let’s hope she took the opportunity to escape and never looks back.”

Kandler wanted to believe that too, but his gut told him different. He held Esprë even tighter.

“She likely killed the guard and flew out the window by means of that fantastic cloak of hers,” Xalt said. As the words left him, he stopped and cocked his head. “Can you ‘kill’ something that’s already dead?”

“Her cloak?” Berre asked.

“A symbiont,” Sallah said. “A living creature attached to her like some unholy parasite.”

Berre put her head in her hands and groaned.

“It’s not important,” Kandler said, trying to believe the words as he said them, finding they offered him little solace. “We have Esprë now. She’s safe.”

“I’m just so happy to see you!” Esprë said.

“As am I, despite all my errors,” said Berre, sighing as she stood up. “I request that you all join me for dinner tonight. We dine at sunset, which should fall in but a few hours. In the meantime, I asked for quarters to be arranged for you. I’ll have one of my soldiers bring up your things.”

“I can take care of that,” said Xalt.

“If you can spare the time,” Berre said, “I’d rather chat with you before dinner. It’s not often that I get to interview a resident of the Mournland. Living so near to it as we do, I find it fascinating.”

Xalt cleared his throat at the request.

“It’s fine,” Kandler said. “If you don’t mind, it’s the least we can do to repay her.”

“I’ll gather our things,” Brendis said.

“That’s not necessary,” Berre said, “I’m sure my …” She grimaced at the young knight. “Yes, that might be best.”

Kandler nodded his thanks at Brendis, then turned back to talk with Esprë about everything they’d both seen since Construct.