Apprehensively, Mallory and Caitlin halted at the gate, but the Wayfinder continued to point directly ahead.
'You're just asking for trouble going through a place like that in a place like this,' Mallory said.
Caitlin followed the line of the railings into the mist. 'I have a horrible feeling this graveyard goes on a long, long way. I don't think we'll be able to go around it.'
Mallory sighed. 'Yep. Makes perfect sense.'
Standing before the gate, he glanced up at the arch and briefly thought he saw his own face on the skull. The illusion passed quickly and he took hold of the sagging gate, which emitted a protesting, resonant scream from its rusted, long-unused hinges. It was the only sound that carried any distance, and seemed to go on and on and on into the mist.
'I'm living in a really bad horror movie,' he said, his palms unbearably sweaty. If the Hortha was on the move, it would have heard that metallic wrenching.
Once again they came to a halt, on the threshold. Every sense told them not to enter the graveyard, but the Wayfinder continued to urge them on.
'Come on — don't be scared!'
The voice startled them. Mallory exchanged a glance with Caitlin and then drew his sword. The Blue Fire around the blade was barely evident. Caitlin reached behind and removed her axe from its harness.
'What fine weapons! What a sword! What an axe! But that sword… yes! One of the Three Great Swords of Existence, if I am not mistaken. And I am rarely mistaken, unless I am in my cups, which, admittedly, has not been much of an option in recent times.'
The deeply theatrical voice hid any true emotion. Mallory had an impression of some old stage ham, living on past glories. 'Who's there?' he called.
'A friend. Nothing more.'
'Somehow I doubt that.'
As Mallory and Caitlin crossed the threshold, they felt a sudden tingle of uneasiness as if the barrier had been real and not just imaginary. Whoever was there was hidden amongst the clutter of mausoleums and grave markers.
'Don't worry! I won't bite! Indeed, I am utterly desperate for invigorating human conversation. Why, we are social beings. We are not meant for this dreary, unstimulating place — where, I might add, I should not be. But enough about that travesty for now, lest I find myself carried away on a wave of bitterness, which will only wash me up on the bleak shores of despair.'
Mallory pushed through the long grass, searching all around. The mist hid objects, then revealed them, then hid them again, so they quickly lost all sense of direction. They could no longer see the gate, although they had not gone far.
'But as the great Shelley said,' the speaker continued, ' 'Some say that gleams of a remoter world visit the soul in sleep — that death is slumber.' So perhaps I… perhaps all of us happy breed… are only sleeping.'
As Mallory and Caitlin rounded an ivy-clustered mausoleum they finally found the speaker, sitting cross- legged on a tomb. He was a strange figure. Though in his mid-forties, he had long, silver hair and a gaunt face. He wore a black suit, shiny from wear, offset by a flamboyant red brocade waistcoat. His boots were worn and holed on the soles.
'What are you doing here?' Caitlin asked.
'Just resting my old bones.' He chuckled, revealing a gap between nicotine-stained teeth.
'Who are you?' Mallory asked.
'Who am I? The great existential question. Who. Am. I. There are many possible answers-'
'Who are you?' Mallory repeated fiercely.
'I am the bard of the hedgerows, the king of the open road, alley sloper, gourmand and wit.' He held his arms wide. 'My name is Callow.'
Chapter Four
1
The Halls of the Drakusa were endless, and silent. The tip of the Spear of Lugh burning with Blue Fire to light her path, Ruth led the way through chamber after chamber where the shadows pressed hard against them and the oppressive sense of threat grew by the moment. More energy burned at the rear of the column where Church and Veitch had their swords drawn to defend the group from any attack.
'This place is a bleedin' maze,' Veitch hissed. 'We could be going round and round in circles.'
'Shavi seems to have his bearings, or at least his eye does.' Church paused to listen intently as he had done so many times since Virginia had warned them that they were being pursued.
'Anything?' Veitch asked.
Church shook his head.
'Maybe she was just spooked by the dark. She's only a kid.'
'The noise-'
'Echoes. Stones.' He wasn't even convincing himself. 'Let's close the door on this room. Barricade it. If there is anything behind us, it might slow them down.'
Church agreed, and they called on Ruth to stop the column while they ran the length of the huge chamber. The doors closed easily and quietly, and there was a heavy oaken bar to lock them in place. Then they dragged numerous chunks of shattered masonry against the doors to add to the barricade.
Veitch wasn't impressed. 'Wish we could booby trap it as well. Blow the bastards up.'
Church laughed. 'I don't know how I survived without you, Ryan.'
'Neither do I.' He grinned to himself before growing serious once more. 'We're doing all right, aren't we?'
'We've not killed each other yet.'
'Yeah. After recent times, that's a definite success story.'
Halfway across the chamber, Church's eye was caught by a disturbance in the dust off to one side of the path they had taken. They'd been careful to obscure their tracks as much as possible, but here an arrow had been drawn with a symbol he didn't understand, and a serpentine squiggle that he guessed was meant to signify a dragon.
'Ryan,' he called quietly.
Veitch skidded to a halt and ran back. When he saw the mark in the dust, he snarled, 'We've got a snake in the group. Or a spider.'
Church nodded. 'They're marking the way for whatever's coming up behind. I didn't see anybody do this, but then we were always looking back.' He glanced towards the group, who were all looking his way. 'And now they know we're on to them.'
Veitch scrubbed out the sign. 'Bollocks. I'm going to carve it out of them.'
'We can't torture everyone until we find out who it is.'
Veitch still appeared to consider this a viable option.
'We might be able to use it in our favour,' Church said.
'Play it cool, screw with their heads a bit?'
'Something like that.'
Veitch nodded. 'Works for me.'
Church looked back at his friends' faces. 'I know we were warned there was a traitor in the group. I just can't believe it.'
'It's the girl — Virginia,' Veitch whispered. 'Got to be. Look at it logically. How the hell did someone that
