Siege of shadows the kee.., p.23
Siege of Shadows: The Keeper Chronicles Book 3, page 23
Sini smiled weakly at him, and caught Roan frowning at the dwarf. She mounted her horse and Dalton came up beside her. “My brother and I are forever in your debt.”
Goven stirred in an uneasy sleep.
“Don’t say that until he recovers.”
Dalton shook his head and looked at her sincerely. “He’d be gone already if it weren’t for you. You’ve given him a chance. No matter how this ends, if you are ever in need of anything, anything at all, I am at your service.”
Sini nodded and shifted in her saddle at his intensity. “I hope you reach Queenstown in safety.”
“As long as he’s not with Keepers, he should be fine,” Douglon grumbled. “I’m leaving. If no one follows, I’m going back to Rass.”
Dalton returned to his brother and Sini nudged her horse to follow the others. Roan pulled his horse up beside her. “I’ve known the Barons for three years and that’s the longest speech I’ve ever heard Dalton give.”
Behind them the huge man hovered over his brother like a nursemaid. “I may only have prolonged the inevitable,” Sini said.
“I think Dalton would still be thankful to have a little more time.”
The trip north was hurried, with Douglon keeping up a brisk trot. The day clouded over early and Sini felt relieved to not have the sunfire pouring down on her. The entrance to Duncave was a long day’s ride, and Douglon wasted no time. They skirted the edge of the Greenwood, keeping to open land as much as they could, ducking through bits of forest when they had to. The Scale Mountains drew closer, and the deep gash in them that was Kollman Pass fell behind them by midday.
Sini hadn’t been able to shake her complicated emotions about the sunfire. In the afternoon she found Pest riding nearby. Grey stubble covered his chin, and his hair was disheveled, but his gaze was still intense enough that it bordered on alarming. To distract herself she rode up next to him.
“Have you ever…” she began and at the smile on the edge of his mouth, she continued, “thrown a knife and killed a dwarf?” She asked quietly enough that Douglon wouldn’t hear.
“Yesterday was the first time I’d ever met one.”
“An elf?”
“Same.”
She thought for a moment. “A goblin?”
“Still haven’t met one of those.”
“You’d want to throw a knife at one if you had.”
“Maybe we’ll get the chance.”
“I dearly hope not. Have you ever won a knife throwing contest?”
He considered the question. “Isn’t that what every fight is?”
“I suppose.” Goven came back into her mind, and the men killed the day before, mostly by Pest’s knives. The memory felt heavy, mixing with all the Roven she’d seen die on the Sweep in their endless, pointless skirmish. The futility of it all weighed on her.
“Have you ever cried after killing someone?”
He paused. “Yes.” He didn’t look at her. “Have you ever cried after using your magic on someone?”
The thought of Lukas and the small topaz rushed into her mind. Helping him pour vitalle into it, sewing it into the lining of the money bag that would be given to Vahe the wayfarer in payment for a new delivery of slaves. “Yes.”
She snuck a look at Pest. His face was flinty. “Would you do it again?”
His expression didn’t change. “Yes. Would you?”
She thought of Vahe in his wagon, trundling away with the leeching gem at his belt. How he had never returned. “Maybe.”
They did not stop for dinner, and night was falling quickly when Douglon paused. He held two strips of cloth from his bag out toward Pest and Roan. “You two will be blindfolded ’til we’re in. We don’t need random humans finding our doors and pestering us.”
“Absolutely not,” Roan said.
Pest gave the dwarf a flat stare.
“Then you can all wander around the hillside knocking on rocks trying to find the entrance yourself.” Douglon said. “I’ll go back to Rass.”
“Just put them on,” Alaric said. “It’s reasonable for him to keep these entrances secret.”
Roan glared at Douglon, but held out his hand for a blindfold. It took a direct order from Roan before Pest did the same.
Once the blindfolds were set, he led them to a rocky outcropping that looked like every other one they’d passed for the last several hours.
He swung down from his horse, pulled his axe off his back, and pounded the butt of it against a boulder. Nothing happened, and Douglon pounded again.
“Ragnoor, I know you’re in there, you lazy oaf. Open the door now, or I’ll report you to Horgoth for neglecting your duties.”
“Douglon?” a muffled voice asked. “Sorry, my lord. I didn’t know t’was you.” The boulder shifted and a dark split appeared.
Douglon stared into the darkness. “My lord? What’s gotten into you? Open the door far enough for us to get in. Hurry up.”
“Yes, my lord.” The rock shoved over until a wide doorway gaped open.
“Bring in the horses,” Douglon muttered to everyone. “Ragnoor will care for them while you’re in Duncave.”
“Horses? No, no horses. It’ll smell in here for a fortnight.”
Douglon ignored him and led his horse in. The others followed. Roan and Pest removed their blindfolds to navigate a short, winding tunnel. It opened into a clean cavern filled with the gentle orange glow of mosslight, the subterranean moss that glowed orange when wet. A younger dwarf, his golden yellow beard hanging only to the middle of his chest, directed them to a stable-like adjoining cavern.
He kept casting nervous glances at Douglon.
“What’s gotten into you, lad?” Douglon demanded. “You’re acting like a frightened sheep.”
“I just didn’t expect you here, m’lord.”
Douglon turned to face him. “If you call me m’lord one more time, I’ll knock your teeth out.”
Ragnoor pressed his mouth closed and nodded quickly.
“These people need to get to Horgoth,” Douglon continued. “They’ll be sleeping here tonight, and the moment they say they’re ready tomorrow, you’ll take them to see my addleheaded cousin. Not that he’s bright enough to actually help them with what they need.”
“But I can’t—”
“Ragnoor,” Douglon growled. “I’m not asking. If Horgoth gives you trouble blame me. Tell him I threatened to kill you if you didn’t do it. I am going to kill you right now if you don’t wipe that stupid expression off your face. You’d think you’d never had anyone come to the door before.”
“But you must go to the High Dwarf,” Ragnoor stuttered. “He’s ordered it.”
“Horgoth is used to me ignoring his orders. Find out what he wants. Tell me next time I stop by.” Douglon turned to Alaric, “I’m starting back tonight. Good luck with Horgoth. You’ll need it.” He stumped toward the exit.
Ragnoor bit his lip, then blurted out, “High Dwarf Horgoth is dying.”
Douglon froze and turned back slowly, his face thunderous. “What do you mean dying?”
Ragnoor glanced at the others. “He broke a leg in a fall a fortnight ago, and th’ leg’s sickened. He wouldn’t let the surgeon cut it off, an’ now…he’s dying. With no heir of his a’comin’, he’s commanded everyone to be on the lookout for you, m’lo—” he cut himself off. “Says you must come back to Duncave at once.”
Douglon stared at the dwarf, his face livid. “He is not going to die. He will not do that to me.” He spun toward Sini. “You, come with me. You will heal that sorry excuse for a dwarf before we have a nightmare on our hands. Get the horses.”
Ragnoor huffed. “You can’t take horses into—”
“Get us some food.” Douglon snapped at him “We have hours of riding before we reach those miserable royal quarters.”
Douglon’s expression sent Ragnoor rushing to nearby shelves.
Douglon snapped at everyone to get their horses. And Alaric nodded. “Let’s hurry. The world isn’t ready for Douglon to become High Dwarf.”
“I am not becoming High Dwarf!” Douglon yelled from the stable.
Douglon led them at as fast of a trot as the tunnel would allow. Even with mosslight lanterns hanging around their horses’ necks, the way forward was barely visible. The tunnels were smooth dwarven passages though, and the horses moved quickly, the echo of their hoofbeats on the stone floor almost deafening.
Sini rode behind Douglon, who kept up a constant stream of muttered curses and threats directed at the High Dwarf, the surgeon, and anyone else he could think of.
Her eyes strained into the darkness, growing gritty with exhaustion. Alaric called for Douglon to slow, and the dwarf snapped back that they were welcome to fall behind if they thought they could navigate the tunnels on their own.
It must have been long past midnight when the first hanging lantern came into view and they trotted out into a wider, taller tunnel. Several dwarfs stared in shock at the six horses running into the light.
Douglon hurried on, careening around corners, scattering groups of dwarves, until he raced into a huge open cavern. Dozens of tunnels of all sizes opened out of it, and the ceiling stretched higher than Sini could see.. Hundreds of lit windows around the walls looked like shopfronts on a city square. Small stone buildings were clumped together, encroaching into the cave from all sides and creating winding narrow alleys.
Douglon rode diagonally across the huge cave, the hoofbeats echoing more quietly and more chaotically off the distant walls. Dwarves scrambled out of his way. He galloped down a wide, straight avenue between larger stone houses until he reached a bright tunnel burrowing into the wall of the cavern. He swung out of his saddle and called for Sini to hurry.
She climbed down on aching legs, unsteady after the long ride. She leaned against her horse until Douglon shouted for her.
The tunnel was bright with a mosslight much more yellow that what they’d been using. Sini squinted into it and followed Douglon’s angry voice. The floor and walls of the tunnel were smooth, showing a perfect reflection of the hallway. Sini’s short hair was wild and disheveled, her face tired. Douglon stormed ahead.
Huge wooden doors lined the tunnel. Guards at one near the end bowed at the sight of Douglon before pushing open the door. Douglon glowered at them and entered. “That one is with me.” He gestured back at her. “And a pack of other humans. Let them all in.”
The dwarf guards at the door were big for dwarves, but no taller than Sini. They watched her with stern, disapproving glares, but let her pass. The chamber beyond was enormous and opulent. Columns of black rock rose along the wall, interspersed with huge, richly-colored tapestries. The stone floor was inlaid with a pattern of stars in grey and white. A carved stone bath large enough for ten dwarves sat along the far wall, and jutting out into the middle of the room was a four-poster bed, each post a stone column wider than Sini’s body, carved with fantastic creatures and inset with gems. Along the wall across from the bed a real fireplace, wide enough for a bonfire, held actual flames—the first Sini had seen since they entered the tunnels. Guards and servants hovered along the walls.
A putrid stench filled the room. In the middle of the huge bed, under a pile of covers, was a dwarf with a grey face and a withered expression.
“Horgoth!” Douglon bellowed, striding across the room. “What in the depths of the deepest pit have you done?”
The High Dwarf cracked an eye open and let out a groan. “Douglon, you good-for-nothing excuse for a dwarf. Where have you been? I’ve needed you for ages, but you’re never here. You’re always off with humans. And elves.” His breath caught in his throat with a jagged noise and he grimaced in pain.
“It smells like a rubbish heap went rancid in here,” Douglon said. “Someone get new linens.”
A servant hurried from the room.
Horgoth reached out and clutched Douglon’s arm. “They tried to take my leg, cousin.” He laughed a gurgling, horrible noise. “But I wouldn’t let them. No surgeon’s gonna hack me into bits.”
Douglon lifted the edge of the cover and threw his hand over his nose. Sini caught a glimpse of the High Dwarf’s leg. The skin was purplish, eaten away in huge red, oozing chunks. The foot was almost black, and the wave of foul stench that rolled out made her gag.
Douglon dropped the blanket and Horgoth let out a hiss of pain. His breathing was ragged and shallow.
“You fool,” Douglon said. “Why didn’t you let them take it? If I’d been here, I’d have held you down and chopped it off myself.”
“I’d have had you executed, you ungrateful clod,” Horgoth yelled, a wild edge to his voice.
“Executing me would’ve been better than you dying without an heir!”
“You always did hate me.” Horgoth closed his eyes and turned his face away. “The idiot surgeon says it’s bad, but I threw him in the dungeon. Tried to kill me, he did. Until I’m back on my feet, you will stay here and be useful.”
“You fool,” Douglon said more quietly. “It’ll take a miracle to get you back on even one foot. Lucky for you, I brought a miracle worker.”
Horgoth squinted at Sini. “Is that a human? Get her out of here!”
The guards stepped forward, but at a glare from Douglon, paused. “This is Sini. She’s a Keeper and a healer. And she’s going to heal you. If you complain about her again, or say anything unkind, I will muzzle you until she’s done.”
Horgoth glared at Douglon but said nothing more.
Douglon motioned Sini closer. “What do you need?”
Sini kept her hand over her face to ward off the smell. There was no sunlight here. Nothing living at all except the dwarves and the other humans who were standing by the door. There wasn’t nearly enough energy here to heal him. “How big of a fire can you build?”
“In that ridiculous thing? As big as you need. Stupid extravagance. Took six years to carve the chimney all the way up to—”
“Then build a fire,” Sini cut him off. “As big as you can.” She cast out toward the High Dwarf. The vitalle in his body moved sluggishly. His entire leg and whole sections of his gut were dark and lifeless. Maybe even the fire wouldn’t be enough.
Douglon shouted commands and the fire was stoked. Sini went to the other side of the bed, pulled some energy from the fire and began to feed it into Horgoth’s body. Unlike sunfire, the vitalle from the fire was thin. It burned as it flowed into her hand, and burned as it went out into the High Dwarf. She couldn’t find the edges of the dying flesh at first, and she searched around, lost, before she realized there was nothing to find. His body wasn’t fighting. Stagnant energy hovered near his chest and his head. The rest of his body was wasting away.
She funneled more vitalle into his chest, burning through her palm, pushing at the edges of the living parts, spreading it into the damaged flesh. His body didn’t grab at the energy the way it should, and the excess vitalle just faded away.
The fire blazed higher and Sini drew in more energy from the flames, grimacing against the pain in her hands and wishing for the painless power of the sunfire. She picked a spot near Horgoth’s gut to funnel it into. The energy along the edges of the dark spot flared a bit and attacked the dying flesh but made no progress. She grabbed more energy, testing different places, pushing against the coolness at the base of his lungs, at the top of his leg, deep into his gut.
Horgoth thrashed his head, his breathing ragged.
Nothing worked. There was no wound to heal here. Or if there was, the flesh around it was so weak it wasn’t trying. His leg was dead and dark. The death had crept up through his blood, spreading everywhere else. Anything that should have been healing was decaying instead.
She pulled her hand off him and glanced up at Douglon. “There’s nothing I can do.”
Douglon’s face hardened. “Heal him.”
“This isn’t healing,” she said quietly. “His body isn’t just damaged. Huge parts of it are dead. His leg, his gut.” Douglon shook his head, but she continued. “I can’t bring them back to life.”
Horgoth’s eyes were closed, and he made no indication he’d heard. Douglon sank to his knees next to the bed and dropped his head into his hands.
He made no sound for a long moment. “How long?” he asked in a muffled voice.
Sini cast out again. “I don’t know.” Leaning against the bedpost, she set her hand on Horgoth’s good foot over the blankets and funneled in vitalle again.
Alaric crossed the room to the bed and Sini felt the ripple as he cast out toward the High Dwarf. “It’s no use, Sini. He needed help a week ago. It’s too late.”
Douglon heaved a sigh and looked toward the soldier. “Go find Patlon.”
“He’s not here, m’lord.”
“Do not call me that, Haldar.”
The guard shifted, but gave a reluctant nod. “Patlon left to find you at the Elder Grove several hours ago.”
Douglon closed his eyes. When he opened them, they were resigned. “Well, track him down. And find all these humans rooms with beds long enough for their ridiculous legs.”
The dwarven beds were surprisingly comfortable. Being only slightly taller than dwarf height, no one had any trouble finding Sini a bed near the royal apartments, and she collapsed into the thick wool mattress the moment she was left alone
A distant commotion woke her. Her room was lit with the same mosslight as before, and it was impossible to tell how long she’d slept. From the fogginess in her head, it wasn’t long.
Pest leaned against the wall outside her door.
Sini cast a dramatically suspicious look down the hallway and whispered, “Am I in danger from the dwarves?”
A dwarf came down the hall, giving both humans a disapproving look. Pest met it with his own flat stare.
Sini sighed, “Maybe I am. The dwarves aren’t terribly welcoming, are they?” The commotion she’d heard came from a different direction than Horgoth’s bedchamber.
“The throne room,” Pest said. “The other Keepers are there.”
