Shades of the Silent: The Sign of the Hanged Man

[aithne]

April 7th, 1220

We were moving as quickly as we could, but we were living off the land, avoiding roads and people as much as we could. It was hard going. Though the grass was beginning to come back under the snows that we encountered at higher elevations, the horses mostly had to graze on dry grasses, and the humans were surviving on small game shot from the saddle. It was cold, so cold that Nomolun had to treat all of us for frost-nipped fingers, noses, ears, and toes at some point.

But this was Chinese territory, and of all people to have reason to know what a tribesman looked like and reason to fear their appearance, the Chinese had the most. So we traveled rough. We all looked exhausted, including the horses, and I felt a bone-deep fatigue. Even without using them, the artifacts were heavy to carry. Not physically, but they seemed to burden the soul somehow. Even Spirit-walker was looking a little worn.

So when we found ourselves a week and a half out from Panjakent near a Silk Road outpost named Fergana, I declared that I'd had enough. "Look, it looks like they've just gotten some caravans in. We won't be noticed in all the fuss. Let's go find the horses somewhere warm to sleep the night, and us as well."

So tired were we all that even Temur didn't argue. We went in, found an inn at the edge of town that had a decent-sized stable to its name, and paid the stableboys to go away and let us see to our own horses. There was good hay, and even a little bit of grain. The horses were asleep even before we'd finished grooming them and checking their feet.

We'd rented rooms as well, and dropped off our saddlepacks and went down to the common room. There was a warm fire, homemade beer that was actually worth the name, stew, and even fresh bread to eat. There was even a bard singing in the background. I'd been starved for music on the journey; we couldn't even really sing at night, since sound traveled far on the brittle night air on these plains. If I hadn't been so tired, I would have gotten up and danced, but instead I listened avidly and applied myself to my food and drink.

About the time that we'd been brought our food, an older man had walked in. He settled down at a table in the corner, and as we ate he glanced over at us occasionally. After a bit, I nudged Sacha. "That one seems to be taking an interest in us."

He nodded. "I noticed. Old warrior by the look, walks like one. Looks like he has money. Do you know him, perhaps?"

"I don't think so. Maybe I look like someone he knows." My first thought was, perhaps he knew my mother. It was a natural thought; not knowing where she came from, I was always wondering what had happened to the rest of her family, her friends. They were probably all dead, of course, but I wondered, still.

Sacha's eyes were dark. "Could be, I will wait her and follow him if you want to leave and get some sleep." He hesitated, then added, "I know you might hate the idea, Khanate, but you might want to think of letting Temur sleep on the floor in your room just in case."

I frowned. It was not proper, of course, for an unmarried woman to share a tent or a room alone with a man, however innocent. But Sacha was correct. It might save my life, and right now I was too damned tired for propriety. "That's probably a plan--don't stay up too late, you're as short on sleep as the rest of us. And...you're right. It's an intelligent idea." I glanced over at Temur. "You willing?"

He nodded, and the two of us rose and left together. I am certain that everyone who saw us go assumed exactly one thing...and all of them were wrong. I gave Temur most of my blankets, shucked my clothing down to my undershirt, wrapped myself up in my own blanket, and was sound asleep the moment I was horizontal.

It was the best sleep I'd had in some time. I woke the next morning, much improved for an unbroken night of rest, and with nothing strange having happened in the night. I checked the artifacts, and they were still there and unchanged. Temur was gone, but that was only expected.

I dressed, washed my face, and combed my hair. I thought I'd go look for the rest, but Sacha was waiting for me in the hall. There was a troubled look on his face. "Khanate, we need to talk some."

"Come in," I said. He did so, and closed the door behind him.

"I talked to the innkeeper some about the old man. His name is Hamid. He is older, rich and very powerful in Fergana. The interesting bit--he has a brother. A mage named Kamil."

Sacha was right. That was a very interesting piece of information, indeed. "Really. That's very strange, though I suppose Ahmad might simply not have mentioned that Kamil had a brother. Or might not have known. I wonder if he felt the artifacts."

"I don't know, but I am guessing that because Kamil made them, Hamid may have access to Kamil's stuff. The innkeeper claimed that Kamil fled the city when his brother Hamid tried to kill him. He wouldn't say why he tried to kill him. Just made the sign of the evil eye and walked away from me."

There was something very odd about this, but I couldn't quite figure out what. "Well. Hamid might be someone to go talk to, then."

Sacha nodded. "That's what I thought. I got directions to his house."

"Why don't we go do that before we leave town, then. Our welcome may vary depending on what he thinks we're up to and why he was so interested in us last night." Sacha nodded again. "Let's collect Temur and Nomolun, and go pay Hamid a visit."

Hamid lived in a large house, but there were no guards in evidence. I knocked on the door, and it was opened by none other than Hamid himself. I got a better look at him this morning than I had last night. He looked very Chinese, on the short side but with a demeanor that made him look taller. His hair was going gray at the temples.

His voice was very deep when he spoke. "It is you. I can feel it. How many do you have?"

"Two." Not even a flicker of a reaction from him. "We travel to destroy them."

He nodded. "Good, come in." He stood aside, and I stepped inside, with Sacha, Temur, and Nomolun following me. When we were inside, Hamid smiled. "Sorry, my manners." He bowed to us. "Hamid, and you are?"

"Yesui." I did not bother to introduce the others. Better they were nameless for the moment. "I hear you are--were--Kamil's brother."

He led us to a sitting area near the entrance. "Yes, unfortunate that."

"Why did you try to kill him?"

"Many reasons. He killed our parents and sister to make those things, and he tried to kill me. Those are the biggest reasons."

I tried to match it up with the story Ahmad had told me, and failed. "I...heard a different story. But I'm betting that was the story Kamil told the person who told me that."

Hamid raised an eyebrow. "Which story did you hear?"

"That raiders killed his family, and that he was handed from relative to relative while he was growing up."

There was a small, cold smile on Hamid's face. "He liked that story, got him out of the blame. I can't say it's all his fault. I may have killed my father myself, if he hadn't gotten there first. Mean man, very mean. We all had scars. He was really hard on Kamil."

"Ah, that was probably the "uncle" who was so mean to him." I took a breath. "So, yes, I'm trying to destroy the legacy he left behind."

Hamid nodded. "I understand that. I might be able to help you."

"How?" I asked.

"Kamil had a place where he went to create those things. I know where it is. Didn't you wonder how I knew you had them?"

I gave him a level gaze. "I did. But I assumed they spoke to you."

He pulled a pendant on a thin leather thong from within his shirt. "It senses them. Kamil made it, though I am not sure quite why."

I smiled. "That is a strange thing for him to have created. And you acquired it after he died?"

"I found it in his workplace. I found a great deal in his workplace."

"I'm sure you did. Would it be useful for me to go see it?"

He nodded. "Yes, I think that it would. Tomorrow work for you?"

I considered. "We hadn't intended to stay that long, but for this, I think we can pause."

He sat back with an air of satisfaction. "Good, then come back here tomorrow at dawn. It's a bit of a ride."

"We will. Thank you." We got up, and Hamid showed us out.

We wended our way back into the market. To the others, I said, "I can't decide if we need to see what Hamid wants to show us, or if we should just take to our heels now."

Sacha nodded. "It's a trap. Has to be."

"It does. I'm not sure if it would profit us to spring it, or if we should just leave." I grimaced. "I'm currently leaning towards leaving, myself." It was too bad. The thought of another night spent sleeping warm was tempting.

Nomolun said, "It could be useful to know what we are up against, but Sacha is right, we would have to be very careful. He isn't doing this for his unselfish reasons, I don't think."

"I can almost guarantee you that he's got his own reasons for doing this, and they probably aren't the ones we'd like. I'll need to talk to Ahmad. He might know more about Hamid."

The cleric eyed me. "He might. But I thought he gave a version of the story to you."

I spread my hands. "He did, and it directly contradicts what Hamid said. However, Ahmad did mention that he'd never figured out who the raiders who killed Kamil's family were, so it may be that Ahmad was lied to."

"It does depend a great deal on who told him those stories." Nomolun looked thoughtful.

"If it was Kamil himself, which it might have been, then it makes sense. But if Hamid's lying to us, then I am guessing that his necklace might not do precisely what he said it did. If it does do what he said it does, then Hamid might well turn into a serious problem if we let him live."

Nomolun nodded. "Either way we need more information, and Ahmad may shed some light."

"That's what I'm hoping. I don't think Ahmad has lied to me, though he might have been lied to somewhere along the way." I was uneasy. I had no way of verifying that what Ahmad had said was the truth, though nothing he had told me so far had turned out to be false. I didn't think he was lying to me...but the dead always have their own agenda. I trusted the ghost in the bracelet, but only to a point.

We returned to the inn, and I went into my room alone, sat cross-legged on the floor, and summoned Ahmad out of the bracelet. He appeared, looked down, and sat as well. "We talked to a very interesting person today. Hamid, Kamil's brother."

Ahmad frowned. "Step-brother, cousin actually. He was killed by Kamil."

"Well, he looked awfully alive."

The ghost looked uncertain. "He can't be. Hamid was killed right after his uncle the man that raised Kamil died. Kamil killed them both."

If I had to make a guess, I'd say that Ahmad wasn't trying to dissemble with me. "That's a different story than Hamid--or whatever is pretending to be him--told. Hamid said that Kamil killed their father and that he tried to kill Kamil because Kamil killed their mother and sister." I paused. "Who did you hear this story from?"

Ahmad made a face. "Kamil. So it is subject to the fact that Kamil was a person that lied a lot. I suppose he might have lied to protect them, but that seems odd to me."

"There's another part to the story. Hamid found Kamil's workshop, and is wearing a necklace that he claims senses Kamil's artifacts. I think he may be lying about what the necklace does, however. We've been invited to see the workshop tomorrow morning, but it's so obviously a trap that I'm thinking about leaving now and seeing if he tries to chase us down."

"I would bet on it. The benefits probably don't outweigh the dangers on this one. I might be tempted to leave too. But the mystery remains a bit--what is the right story, and what does Hamid have?"

I was thinking, little signs falling together in my mind. "If Kamil made it, it's probably not something that sense his items--unless it's something like the bracelet you made, and it carries part of his spirit in it. It might be that it was created to sense you." Think like an enraged master mage. "If I were him, I'd probably figure out that you'd be chasing me from beyond the grave and done something to prevent it."

Ahmad nodded. "So it didn't really pick up the artifacts, but it picked up me and he drew the conclusion that you must be after the artifacts."

"That was my thought. However, here's the problem--in all of the versions of this story I've heard, Hamid and Kamil don't get along. Why would Hamid be helping Kamil now?"

"Is it possible that Hamid found one of these items and is now taken over like your father? So he doesn't think he is helping Kamil, but himself."

"It's a possibility." I stretched my arms up towards the ceiling, wriggling my shoulders. "Well, there's an easy solution, but it's one that won't answer the question. Put an arrow into his heart and call it done."

"It depends on the mystery, my concern is that neither you nor I are detecting another item within the one mile radius, if there is one here."

He was right. "He might be keeping it in the workshop. He did say it was quite a ride from here."

Ahmad's frown got more worried. "Still, you should be able to pick it up and a general direction, it should pick up the nearest one to you. So this brings up the question of does he have a way to block me if he has one at all or two are the current artifacts now overshadowing the pull of the others since they are so close to you? None of this was ever tested, mind you."

I nodded, thinking. "I'd hate to think he has a way of blocking you, but we can test the other theory easily enough. Put a bit of distance between me and the artifacts, and see if I start getting any other nearby ones."

"Let the others have them for awhile and let's put a few miles between us and them. Spirit could probably use a good leg stretching. The pace you keep with the other horses is probably driving him mad."

I grinned. "That was what I was thinking. None of the others seem to have been taking an interest in possessing the artifact, so I think they're safe with them. I have to admit, I'm curious to see exactly how fact Spirit can go."

"Quite fast, when the need arises."

This was going to be fun. "Sounds good, I'll go explain what I'm doing to the others and then go for a bit of a ride."

A bit later, Spirit and I were standing outside of town, me on his back. I'd explained to him the experiment we were running, and he'd agreed. "If you feel like stretching your legs, now's the time," I said.

Do not be alarmed, Khanate, if your reality changes some. Do you have a direction you wish to go?

I looked around. The region around us was hilly, but north looked flattest. "North, I think. It doesn't really matter too much, I just want some distance between me and the items."

I will start slow until you get used to it then I will increase speed. The sensation, according to Ahmad, is somewhat disturbing the first time.

I smiled. "I think he and I may have different points of reference, but it's a good idea. And by the way, Spirit, you of all people should certainly be calling me by my name, not Khanate."

There was mild surprise in his mental voice. I had heard that term from the others, I assumed it was part of your name that you preferred to be called.

"It's a title. The others use it because I rank higher than they do. But you're not human, so rank can't be compared."

I understand, Yesui. That name is only the one given to you by your father. Silent One is the name you are.

"I started being called the Silent when I was in training. It still seems to fit, though it seems like I chatter on these days." I shook my head. "Seems strange that you see that, though I shouldn't be surprised."

You will understand shortly. Are you ready?

I twined my fingers in his mane and prepared to hold on. "I am."

True to his word, Spirit held himself to no more than the speed of Wind's gallop for the first mile or so. Then Spirit didn't seem to speed up so much as I started to see flashes of the world through his eyes, the magnificent range of a horse's vision. I could smell not the horse I rode but another scent. Human, female, young--me. As I held tight, I started to see flashes of Ahmad, other riders, all the way back to Spirit's birth.

Then he became his name, and he began to walk with me into the ghosts of the past. I felt cradled by enormous power, safe as a child in the arms of her mother. Then his speed rushed forth and his heart and mine combined, and I felt the I who was we--who was Spirit-walker--who was Silent One--move fast, so fast, I had no idea anything could ever move that fast, faster than birds--

Wordless, I loved it, loved the speed and the horse that made it possible. Spirit was moving so fast, and barely breathing hard. Finally, about twenty miles and less than a few minutes out, the horse pulled up. Come back, Silent One. Time to be two again.

Only if we can do that again later. I found myself slipping free, sliding out of the cradle of his power, becoming myself and only myself once more.

On the way home.

I smiled and sat up, concentrating on the bracelet. To my surprise, there was an item south of me by a few miles, between here and the city. I slid off Spirit's back and called out Ahmad. "Looks like having the two items so close was interfering," I said.

"Looks like it. Makes for good sense then to do this periodically or destroy the ones you have quickly. Might be best to do that anyway. Soon the artifacts may start calling to others, enticing them to steal them from you."

"That's what I was thinking. Even if we have to bypass a few items to destroy the ones we have, it would probably be a good idea."

"I think that would be best, you will traipsing around this part of the world a lot," Ahmad said.

Didn't I just know it. I was probably going to get very familiar with a vast quantity of this land. "If I took Spirit by myself, I could probably be to the Indus river in two weeks, rather than a month and a half. The whole trip to there and to the Himalayas would probably take a bit over a month. I don't like the idea of leaving the others behind, though. They can all look after themselves, but, still."

He nodded. "That's true. I think you will need your friends. Besides, time is still on your side. The Khan thinks it may take years to find them all. Use that time to find all that you can about these items. You will need that if you are going to get your father out from under their grip."

"True. He probably doesn't even know yet that I've found one, much less two. We can probably take a look at where the nearby item is--I'm guessing that's where Hamid's going to take us."

"I would bet on it. And he may well try to use it on you. You might be able to locate it tonight and take it from him."

"That's what I'm thinking. Well, Spirit, shall we go look and see what there is to see out here?" I swung up on his back, and my only warning of what happened scant moments later was Spirit's muscles bunching as he coiled himself to take off. He could come up to speed in a flash, it seemed. A few minutes later, he pulled up about three miles away. I can feel what you feel with the bracelet now, the horse commented. It's around here, somewhere.

I blinked. Had finally going for a real run with Spirit-walker somehow cemented the bond that tied us? It seemed like it might have. I looked around me, and saw a bunch of boulders to the south, to the north there were a few twisted trees, and to the west was a small cliff face. Nothing seemed unusual, except the suggestion of a path worn through the boulders.

We went to investigate the rocks first. When I got there, I found that there was indeed a path leading into the boulders, a narrow one like only one person used it at a time. Whoever came here did so on a regular basis; the dirt of the path was packed and hard.

The path led through a narrow crevice that I had to flatten myself a bit to squeeze through, once again blessing the fact that I had not inherited my mother's endowments. Beyond the crevice, the path widened, and in the center of the wide place there was a wooden door set in the ground.

I hadn't seen a horse anywhere nearby, and I assumed that meant that nobody was here at the moment. I still dropped my head to the door to listen, and heard nothing moving on the other side. There was a trap--an alarm, it looked like, meant to send a message to someone if the door were opened without the key--and I disabled that then picked the lock.

Under the door, it was very dark. A smell like blood and decay wafted up towards me, and I closed my eyes, cast my little light, and waited for my eyes to adjust.

Once they did, I could see a rope ladder dropped down below me, and lot of devices that looked as though they had one purpose in existing--causing pain to human bodies. There were perhaps three or four bodies lying in the corners. Old bodies, it looked like, and dry. I carefully climbed down the rope ladder, and began to pace along the floor.

It appeared to be an old mage's workshop; most of the equipment appeared to have fallen into disuse some time ago. There was an alcove across the workshop that I hadn't been able to see into; it held a table. On the table was a golden cup, brimming with some dark substance, and burned into the surface of the table was the mark of a man, hanged by the feet, blood pouring from a cut throat.

The cup was strongly magical, and the dark substance, when I got close enough to see, was blood. I frowned. Something was very, very wrong here. This can't be what it looks like. Can it?

I bared the bracelet and called Ahmad out. I gave him a moment to take in the workshop, the torture implements, the table and the cup. "Is it just me, or is this thing screaming trap?" I asked, quietly.

He frowned. "It seems strange but it might be just what you think it is. Touch the bracelet to it." I was about to balk when he blinked and said, "Though on second thought, maybe not. That might be what he wants us to do." I gave him a Do I look stupid? look; I knew a trap when I saw one, and this was a trap. "Look for another magical spot."

"If this is Kamil's workshop, this might be aimed to trap you," I pointed out. I looked around, but saw nothing.

Ahmad pointed at the mark on the table. "That's Kamil's symbol. He loved the trick hiding one magical thing next to another and the overwhelming fake magic on the one would cover the other and they would steal something nasty or leave what was truly valuable alone."

"I'm guessing this is what's going on, then." I began to look around, under the table, on the ceiling, on the walls, looking for a trigger or catch of some sort. "And that's a pretty gruesome symbol to take for oneself."

"I think you are going to have to move the cup somehow, it's probably under it or under the symbol. The symbol had to do with his preferred style of killing. He needed a lot of blood for these items."

"I'll bet. Let's see, how to move it without either spilling that blood or touching it. Would be useful to be a real mage right about now, I've seen them levitate things straight up. There must be a way to do this..." I blinked. There was a worn spot in the center of the symbol, slightly shiny from wear, as if someone touched it a lot.

I reached out and touched the spot, holding my breath. The golden cup sank into the table, and to replace it rose a silver cup, this one empty. "Well, look at that. I think I feel better about touching the bracelet to this one."

Ahmad smiled. "So do I."

Gingerly, I touched the bracelet to the cup. Ahmad closed his eyes. "The cup of Jamshid. The cup must be filled with the blood of a person tortured for ten days in the most excruciating way. The entire amount of blood must be drained into the cup and will be magically reduced to a single eight ounce draught. Alternatively, the blood of one hundred people hung by their feet and drained of all blood into the cup will be reduced to a single draught. Upon drinking, the person will gain invulnerability to all normal weapons, increased strength and maneuverability. After the death of one thousand people tortured and drained or upon the death of one hundred thousand people, the bearer will gain the invulnerability and increases permanently, in addition to immortality."

I stared at the cup. Immortality. My father, if he were to get his hands on this, would live forever...but it wouldn't be him that lived. It would be Kamil. I thought I was starting to see into Kamil's plans, at least a little way. "Oh, this just gets better and better," I said.

Ahmad opened his eyes. "Destruction is caused by washing the cup in the blood of the innocent and pure good."

I stared at him. "You're...not kidding, are you."

"Afraid not. Freely given, too."

"Wait, does the blood given have to cause the innocent's death?"

He shook his head. "Doesn't sound like it, and I think washed is rather large term. I would bet a few drops will do. You are just breaking the magic by using its opposite. If that thing makes you torture and kill people, a drop freely given will probably cause all sorts of problems with it."

I breathed out. Well, this wasn't going to be easy, but it was possible. "Well, then, I suppose the trick is finding someone who is innocent and purely good."

"Well the answer is not so hard. I would bet on a few things. A unicorn, a dryad, a gold dragon. What I don't like is trying to find them."

"Well, all of those are in short supply in these parts, and we may be about to have some nastiness on our tail."

He raised his brows. "Such as?"

"Depends on a lot of things, but if I take this now and don't kill Hamid, he may follow me until the end of days."

The ghost suddenly looked troubled, as if he'd followed my thought. "I have a bad feeling about this. You know what this does, and if Hamid has had this thing for twenty years--"

"He's had more than enough time to use it."

"Invulnerable, immortal and with increased strength."

I thought about it. "The question is--if the cup is destroyed, does he lose that?"

"It's got to be powering him. I would say it's a good bet, but I don't know if that's true for sure. We are in untested waters. It did say by invulnerable to any normal weapons. Fadl's fathers stuff may qualify, its not normal."

I made a wry face. "The problem, of course, is trying it out and discovering that it doesn't qualify."

"I am afraid so. Might be best to leave until we are sure or have at least destroyed the cup."

"He's going to be on our tail all the way to the Himalayas, if we can't find someone to help between here and there.," I said. I wasn't very happy about the prospect. Ahmad nodded, acknowledging. "I don't think any of my companions qualify for the innocent thing. I know I certainly don't."

He shook his head. "I doubt any of you would and probably very few humans. If it were that easy, it's not much of an artifact. And what about the Eye of Amara?"

I winced. "Right, we were going to stop in Kashi for a few days."

"If he follows you there...this is going to get bad."

I sighed. "Well, I could try that armor and swords against him, and see how it goes. Problem is, he's a warrior. If I have to stand toe-to-toe against him, I'm likely going to lose."

Ahmad nodded. "I suggest you run, for now. Collect any magic you can for your friends and then turn on him."

It wasn't much of a plan, but it was going to have to do. "I think that may be our best chance. We may have to skip Kashi for the moment, we'll see what's for sale in town. I don't think I'm going to have a better chance, and I'm guessing that even without taking it, Hamid's going to be on our tail. Time to pick it up and go, I think."

I fitted actions to words, wrapping the cup in a cloth and then pressing the worn spot on the symbol, causing the golden cup to rise out of the table. I stowed the cup and then climbed the rope ladder out, wriggling between boulders so I could mount Spirit and be gone.

I returned to the others, and at the look at my face Sacha said, "What's amiss, Khanate?"

"There's no time. Pack up and ready the horses. We leave, now. Hamid is--not normal. He's very likely immortal and invulnerable to most weapons. And I just liberated a little something from him." I grinned.

"What is it?"

"The cup that made him the way he is. I'll show you later, let's get going."

As we began to tack up the horses, Temur asked, "How was the ride on Spirit?"

A silly grin spread over my face before I checked it, thinking hard about how to describe it. "Difficult to describe. Amazing."

"I had wondered. He looks like a horse but he has some differences. I wondered what they translated into in practice."

"Ever been riding and you felt as if you were one with the horse? Like that, but you actually are. And he goes fast."

Temur nodded. "That was the part I wondered about. He has more leg muscles than other horses. I wondered if that translated to just strength or speed, but in this case, probably both."

I paused in cinching Wind's saddle. "We went something like ten miles in twice a hundred heartbeats."

"That is fast. Very fast. Must have been quite the experience."

"It was faster than I could imagine anything going. I was rather disappointed that we had to stop, honestly."

"Well, then, we should use that speed to be on our way." He swung up in Blade's saddle, and I did the same on Wind.

Less than a half hour later, we were on the road, heading south. Once we were out of sight of the city, we started riding hard, pushing the horses.

We would drop straight south, circle south around a place on the map that was marked as a place of impassable mountains and shifting ice. We'd pick up part of the southern silk route, pass through Alichur, and then head up into the mountains to the headwaters of the Indus.

We rode hard for a week, and there was no sign of pursuit. Once we were some distance from Fergana, I pulled out the cup and told everyone what it did, and what we were going to have to do to break it. The thought of finding someone to help us with the cup was something we idly played with as we rode south.

We were approaching the place of shifting ice, which from this distance looked very much like a frozen river, coming down from a high mountain. Nomolun was saying, "Unicorns and dryads. They lived in forests, large forests. Like those in China, India and Pakistan. Gold dragons, they are hot creatures, they would be found farther south. India, most likely."

I sighed. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy. Well, we'll see where we find ourselves in a bit, and see where's closer."

Nomolun nodded. "The Indus is in Pakistan, but it's right at the beginnings of the Himalayas, farther south and out of the mountains you will find the big forests."

Ahead of us, Temur pulled up and raised a hand. We all halted the horses, and looked where he was pointing. Ahead of us, smoke was rising from the grassland. It appeared to be moving towards us.

I scrambled up until I was standing on Spirit's back. In a semicircle around us, there were people in red robes lighting fires. They had left us only the option of going back the way we came. It was an ambush, and whoever had done this knew we were of the Ten Tribes--this was a standard ambush tactic often used against scout groups. "Nomolun, is there anything you can do about the fire long enough for us to pass through it? There are too many of us to fireproof, but if you can get the flames down..."

She shook her head. "I can fire proof a half a dozen of us, and bring down some rain if we have time. But that takes a while."

"We don't have the time." I turned around to see exactly what I thought I was going to see--riders bearing down on us hard, red robes flying in the breeze. I dropped down to Spirit's back and pointed to the eastern edge of the circled fire. "That way. Temur, when they're in range, pick off as many as you can. Nomolun, if you can cast the fireproofing spells while we're riding, get the humans, Spirit. and your own horse. If the rest of us are caught, I want you clear."

Nomolun nodded and began, and we made for where I'd pointed. I tossed Sacha the longsword from Fadl's father's set, keeping the shortsword for myself. "We may get to see what these can do."

The unridden horses clumped together, and the ones with riders were to the outside of the herd. When the men coming towards us were in bow range, Temur started dropping them, one arrow, one death. He killed half a dozen, leaving a gap in the line, but the men were beginning to light fires, and the ones who'd died had dropped their torches. The fire before us was spreading, and I pointed at the gap and shouted orders.

Smoothly, the herd wheeled. The fire behind us was raging, eating dry grasses and dead wood, and I saw ahead of us that those fires started by the falling torches were starting to spring up, the flame hungry and bright. "Bunch up! Don't let anyone balk!"

Through the fire we went, the horses moving so quickly that they didn't have too much time to think about the fire that they were running through. One of the red-robes, caught between us and the flame, attacked me, jumping and trying to pull me from Spirit's back.

I guessed that they hadn't done quite enough study of us, or they'd have known that a Mongol is very difficult to unseat. I grabbed the man by the collar, and rapped him smartly on the back of the head with my shortsword's pommel. He groaned and went limp; I hauled him up over Spirit's back. This one had just volunteered to be a prisoner.

We were free of the fire, and the one I'd captured started struggling. I laid the blade against the back of his neck, and said, "Don't move, or my hand might slip." I glanced back; we had pursuers chasing us on horseback. To the others, I said, "Keep moving, our horses can run longer than theirs. Temur, keep shooting them."

Temur handed his reins to Sacha, turned around so he was sitting backwards on the horse, and began to shoot the pursuers. Remarkably, the men on horseback lost their enthusiasm for pursuit after they lost four more men to Temur's arrows.

After they had fallen back, I nodded. "Good enough. Good work, Temur. Let's keep moving for a bit, then we'll need to stop and rest the horses." I kept the blade on my prisoner's neck as we rode, and he showed no signs of struggling.

Finally, I judged we were far enough away, and pulled everyone to a halt. The horses, except for Spirit, were blowing and hanging their heads. "I'll take them," Temur said as he dismounted. "You question our friend there."

I nodded and unceremoniously dumped the man head-first on the ground, landing just after he did, but I was on my feet. "Sacha, help me hold him." I searched him and found a dagger, a sword's scabbard but no sword, leather armor, and red robes over that leather armor. We stripped him down to his smallclothes and tied him, and I noticed a burned mark on his upper arm. It was in the shape of a foot-hanged man.

Kamil. I swore silently.

We'd put his back against a boulder, and I squatted in front of him. "You belong to Kamil?"

He nodded. "The brotherhood of Kamil."

"And why, pray tell, did you just try to kill us?"

The man sneered. "Our orders came on the wind from one of the leaders of the brotherhood. Four travelers, two women, two men, nine horses. Kill them and take the treasures of Kamil."

"The name of this leader is?"

"There are many but this one is Hamid."

I'd expected nothing less. "When did the brotherhood of Kamil start? How long ago?"

"Twenty years."

Kamil would still have been alive. "I assume the man himself started it?"

"In preparation for his ascension."

Uh-oh. Do we have a bigger problem than a mage bent on revenge? "His ascension to...what, precisely? Godhood?"

The man smiled. "He will be God on earth when he returns from the land of the dead."

"Ah, I see. This process has started recently, hasn't it?"

Still, that smile, that happy, vicious smile. "When the thirteen are reunited, Kamil will rule the earth, and the faithful will have a place by his side."

"How many are there of you, anyway?" I asked.

"Hundreds. We are everywhere."

I didn't doubt it. "I take it this is going to happen again and again?"

"Killing you? I assume so."

At least until it took, I guessed. "And how did you manage to track us down?"

"We didn't. We set up watchpoints on all the major routes out of Fergana. It was we that were lucky enough to find you."

I gave the man a doubtful look. "Luck. I see." I looked over at Sacha. "Have anything else?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Good." With one smooth motion I drew my shortsword and slit the man's throat. He gagged, choked, and died. I looked down at the body. "Well, this has the potential to be inconvenient."

"Very, and this runs deeper now. Hundreds of them, and all over. Which means probably within the great Khan's realm."

It was an unpleasant thought, but it needed to be faced. "What do you want to bet that one of them was the one who whispered him his ear about the artifacts in the first place?"

"Which means, I afraid to admit Khanate, that someone in the great Khan's family is one of them, likely."

I made a face. "The idea had crossed my mind. Probably one of the older ones. If I were going to make a guess, I would say Chagatai. He's been down in this area a good bit, he'd have had every chance to come across the brotherhood."

"I was afraid to suggest that, Khanate, but that makes the most sense."

I sighed. I wished Sacha wasn't so leery about suggesting things to me that I might not want to hear. Like my father--like my father used to be--I trusted those who counseled me, and I wanted those I led to be able to speak freely with me. Temur did, Nomolun to a lesser extent, and Sacha not much at all. I resolved to speak with him about it some time, but now was not the moment. "Sacha, don't worry about speaking ill of my family to me. I know my father, and my brothers and sisters. That one or more of them is mixed up in this doesn't really surprise me. Jochi is the best of my brothers, and he and Orbei are the only two I would be surprised to hear were involved."

Sacha nodded. "It will make our life much harder. I wonder how destroying one affects the others."

"I don't know, and that worries me," I admitted. "Nobody knows. Ahmad has speculated, but it's never been tried before. Not only that, we have an additional problem. We should probably assume that at this point, the Khan--or whatever controls him--knows that I mean to destroy the items I have. We have a good head start, but we're not a war band."

"I feared that, as well. He heard it from the wind. That confirms magic is being used, and therefore the Khan is probably aware."

"We're going to have to think of a way to disguise ourselves, especially once we start heading north again."

"Yes, we are, and the horses."

I scuffed at the dirt with the toe of my boot, thinking. "I can think of a couple of things right off, but they're going to slow us down immensely. Join a caravan, for one, if we can find ones going the correct way. "

Sacha nodded and said, "Staying way off the main roads will probably help."

"That it will. Though they still found us, this time."

"True enough."

I looked to the west, to where the smoke was still rising. I sighed, and went to go help Temur see to the horses.

We spent the next fourteen days circling the glacier. Temur reported that there were people following us, staying just out of bow range. They scattered when he charged them; they were learning, right enough. He managed to pick off a couple of them, and brought the bodies back. They had the same tattoo.

We started working at making following us as inconvenient as possible. Trip wires, disguised holes, homemade caltrops. The first week, Temur spotted about a dozen of them. The second week, he saw about six; either they were getting better at hiding or their numbers had fallen. We kept traveling hard and rough, and after a while we could see mountains rising to the east of us, and the pursuit seemed to fade out. "The Himalayas," Ahmad said one night when I pointed at them. "You're getting close."

In the middle of May, we ran into the Indus River, and turned to follow it north. The weather had turned from freezing to very warm. The horses were looking like patchwork dolls, shedding their winter coats with itchy abandon, and we packed away coats and exchanged them for light shirts, the sleeves of our silk undershirts showing under them.

The river dwindled as we followed old game trails along it. Finally, a week after first seeing the river, we arrived at the valley Ahmad had described. We all dismounted, and most of us set to rubbing down the horses and currying loose fur off of them, while Sacha went to scout.

After a while, Sacha returned. His jaw was set, and I immediately knew there was trouble. "We have a problem, I think."

"A problem?" I echoed.

"I found the temple but...come look."

I and the rest abandoned our tasks and followed Sacha along a narrow trail through underbrush to what had once been a temple. The only wall still standing had Kamil's tattoo painted in red on it. I swore. "I'll say that's a problem. Let's hunt around and see if we can find a body, or a grave."

We searched, but found nothing. Temur said, "This wasn't long ago. A week, maybe less. The dust hasn't been washed away."

"They beat us here, and I'll bet that they took the priest."

Nomolun frowned. "Why not kill him, then?"

"They know we need him, and we'll hunt him down. Either he's captured, or they took him away and killed him so that we'd think he was captured. He's bait. One moment." I bared the bracelet and called out Ahmad. "We have a problem. It appears the brotherhood of Kamil beat us here." I pointed at the wall with Kamil's mark on it.

He was silent for a moment. "That's a problem. Kamil made these things, he probably knew how to destroy them. And passed that knowledge on to the brotherhood."

"And they're probably killing or capturing the people we need to help us destroy them." Without much hope of an answer I'd want to hear, I asked, "There isn't anyone else who can help us destroy the statue?"

"No, he helped make it, then turned to the priesthood to beg forgiveness for what he had done, has lived like a hermit since, praying to Vishnu for forgiveness. I met him before my encounter with Kamil that killed us both. In our favor is Vishnu's curse, if you want to call it that."

"Curse? What curse is this?"

"He can't die until the statue is destroyed. They can kill him, but he is restored minutes later."

Nice. "I'll bet they tried. Unfortunately, this means that he is definitely bait for a trap. If we can even find him. Though they can't be too far away, this didn't happen more than a week ago."

"Well, you know it's a trap. They strangely didn't ambush you here, but not knowing when you would arrive would have made this difficult for an ambush. Could have been months. It's up to you, Yesui. He will live forever, and they can't kill him."

I rubbed my earlobe. "Unfortunately, they can hide him so we'll never be able to find him. If nothing else, seeing if we can track him down might prove useful. Who knows, they might even be going in the correct direction for us. It's a trap, but if I can see that trap coming, I might be able to avoid it." We were so close, it seemed a shame to let this chance slip away.

Ahmad nodded. "I would give you more if I knew it, Yesui. I think tracking him now is your best bet. He will probably be taken so far away if you let him go that you will never find him."

"That's what I'm thinking." I gave him the ghost a half-smile. "And I know, it just bothers me that we've traveled all this way only to arrive a week late. I'll get over it."

"This brotherhood is becoming trouble fast."

"It is. And we don't exactly have the resources to wipe it out. If I'd brought an actual war band with me, maybe." I just hadn't thought that this was going to be so much trouble. I'd chosen my companions on the premise that we were going to be traveling light and fast, needing little protection but our speed. I'd been wrong.

"You have picked a few of them off, and I think you can whittle them down even more," Ahmad said, trying to be encouraging.

"Well, I'm sure we'll be killing them whenever we see them. There are hundreds, the one that we captured said."

"I think you may have to kill them all," Ahmad said.

"That's what I was rather thinking. The odds aren't that bad, and they're spread out, and if we're lucky they'll start coming to us rather than us having to chase them down over the countryside." I made a face. "Still. We could use a few more people who are handy with a sword. Unfortunately, when I left, I didn't think I was going to be coming up against a cult."

"Nor did I. You may wish to find more people on the way that want these things destroyed and recruit them."

It was a fair idea, though I didn't know who would come along on such a desperately dangerous trip. "It would probably help. Especially since they have a description of what our group looks like--if we changed that, we'd become invisible again until they figured it out."

Ahmad nodded. "Yes, see who you can find along the way that's willing to come with us."

For some reason, I suddenly felt incredibly tired. I took a sharp breath inward, straightening. "We'll see who we find. For now, though, we have a priest to find." I raised my wrist, nodded to Ahmad, and he disappeared.

Temur was coming toward me. "They left this way," he said, pointing east. "Seven including the priest, who was struggling. They dropped him on a horse and left. Depending on how far east they went, it's going to get more difficult to track in those mountains."

"Well, we should probably water the horses and get moving. They have a head start, but I'm thinking that maybe they're heading for somewhere specific, and they don't have any reason to think we're after them right now."

"I think we can gain ground quickly. They are seven on seven horses. They can't switch out."

Seemed like a lack of forethought, to me. Or maybe it was simpler; maybe these people weren't very well funded. It was a thought. "True, and they have this terrain to deal with. As do we. All right. We rest for a bit, then we see if we can gain some ground on them before dark."

We finished caring for the horses, then Temur lay in the shade of a tree and, too all appearances, went immediately to sleep. Sacha, too, dozed. Nomolun checked and rechecked her kit; we'd been using some of her salves on the horses, who had gained a number of scrapes and bruises in the past few weeks of traveling on strange ground, and she looked like she was composing a mental list of what she needed to replace them.

Me, I stood and looked at the forest, and the mountains. Everything was so close. You could hardly see past the end of your arm, and certainly not for the miles and miles I was accustomed to. The vegetation was thick and verging on lush, and it made me feel hemmed in.

I wasn't claustrophobic; one couldn't be, in my profession. I just didn't like feeling as trapped as the mountains made me. I'd be glad when we could be shut of them.

We traveled for the next four days, walking when the terrain made it difficult for the horses to make good time, riding whenever we could. Temur was mostly in the lead, and he was far more twitchy than normal; I guessed that he liked the mountains about as much as I did. There was far too little sky for me, here.

Four days east, we were up on a high ridge when Temur pulled up and pointed down into a valley. Seven horses were plodding along, about five miles ahead.

"Well, those look like our folks." From here, I could survey the whole valley; there was good cover on either side of the trail they were using, and about five miles ahead of them, the terrain turned more verdant, and a little flatter. Ten or fifteen miles after that, the trail climbed the other side of the valley into thick forest.

I pointed at the flatter spot. "We're going to have trouble fighting on horseback no matter what we do, but that will be easier. I think we can split up and flank them about there. Sacha, Temur, take the north--Temur, you lay down cover fire, Sacha, you come in from the side. Nomolun, you're with me, but you'll stay back until the battle's over. I'll come in on their south flank. Let's go."

We split up and began to descent into the valley as fast as we dared. We found the flat place and hid ourselves at either side of the trail, staying still and silent. Then, it was a waiting game. They were traveling as slowly as honey on a cold day, and lying on my belly in the undergrowth, I had plenty of time to think and plan.

Finally, they got close, and closer. When they were about ten feet away, the horses smelled us, starting to snort and shake their heads. That was my cue, and I burst from cover.

The nearest one to me was dead before he could even shout. I shoved him from the saddle and took his place, wheeling his horse around and slashing with the shortsword I'd been carrying since Panjakent and hadn't yet had a chance to use. The second one gave me a run for my money, giving me a good slash in my arm and one in my shoulder before I felled him. In the back of my mind, I was aware of the thud of arrows hitting their targets, and the blur that was Sacha.

It was over almost before it had begun. There was only the old man, tied to the saddle on a terrified horse. I dismounted and went to soothe the horse. Once the gelding was calm and standing still, I cut the priest loose. "Greetings. My name is Yesui," I said.

He nodded, wary. "Tahir is my name."

"We should take care of the bodies and put some distance between us and this place before whatever passes for scavengers up here shows up. I'm afraid your temple was destroyed, and I'm also afraid we need your help."

He looked at me sharply. "Help?"

"We're in possession of a statue that needs to be destroyed. A ghost named Ahmad told me that you were the person who could destroy it."

"Ahmad? You have the statue of Kali?"

"I do."

He looked as if I had given him the most precious gift he could imagine. "Praises to you, daughter. I can help you then, and you me."

I breathed out. "Good. What do we need to do?"

"Destroying this is easy for me. But I don't know what the result will be. They were taking me to some stronghold not far from here. Before you attacked, they said it was four hours from here south. I have read a great deal about destroying artifacts--it never ends well. My suggestion is for me to get as close as possible to their stronghold and let the artifact destroy them as it destroys itself."

It made sense. "We can likely get you very close--depending on where the stronghold is, and how much cover is nearby."

"Then we should go."

I turned to Temur. "Gather the new horses, take the ones worth taking, let the rest loose. Let's go. I'll be glad to see this one finished."

We followed the trail deeper into the mountains. We arrived on a ridge above a valley. Below us, I could see a stone building, some sort of fortification, and I could see perhaps twenty-five or thirty people moving around below. "Put a mile between yourselves and the statue," Tahir said. We were riding double on Spirit, Tahir behind me.

I nodded. "The rest of you, stay here. Get the unridden horses back a bit. I'll go in with Spirit. He can get me away."

Then we went down. Spirit picked his way down the slope, and at the perimeter where they had cleared away the forest, Tahir dismounted. The old priest looked up at me. "Good luck in all you do, Yesui."

I nodded. "Thank you. I hope you find peace, Tahir."

"I will, and have." He was cradling the statue in his arms, and he smiled and walked into the cleared area.

There were shouts, guards starting to run towards him, bows drawn. Tahir wrapped his arms around the statue, tighter and tighter, the arms digging into his skin. Blood began to run down over the statue as the arms pierced his skin. A bright light began to pour from Tahir as the guards stopped running, worry starting to enter their eyes.

At this point, Spirit took off. I tangled my fingers in his mane and turned so I could watch, shading my eyes with my hand. The forest, the building, the people--all of them disappeared, leaving nothing but bare earth behind.

And then--

The ground erupted, trees and plants establishing themselves too quickly for the eye to see. In seconds, the forest had reclaimed the land, including birds and other animals. Nothing was left of the people, or the building.

Spirit pulled up, and I dismounted next to the others. They were all looking at the place where the building had been. "Quite the show," Sacha said.

I nodded. "One down." I couldn't take my eyes off of the forest. He was right. Destroying artifacts doesn't end well.

"Twelve to go." Sacha's voice was contemplative. "Wonder if it hurt Kamil?"

"I hope so," I said, thinking of the children and their thin little dogs, countless miles and over a month behind us in Panjakent. "I really, really hope so. Let's go. I don't want to stay here any longer than I have to."

The others nodded, and we mounted up and turned to the east once more. If we were very lucky, the brotherhood would not have beaten us to the dwarves.

We could only hope. Perhaps hope would be enough.

Comments

[miryai.livejournal.com]

Yay for so many new chapters in one day! I love following Yesui and her group. Very compelling. :)

[silenceleigh.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're enjoying it! :)

This was me playing catch-up, it'll be a little while before I post any more.

[merraviel.livejournal.com]

I think I dried my eyes out, trying to read it all so quickly.

Now I'll have to go back and read the others. ;)