The Pilgrims

Said Siel, ‘We have not been unkind to Lalie. She has done many bad things. I would be glad to kill her, if allowed.’ She said this as casually as if saying she’d like a bath. Eric pictured her wrist-deep in a mule’s carcass, blood glistening down her arms as she sliced off its meat with steady calm hands.

Case crept out the front door, unsure why it felt like he was up to something mischievous. He just wanted to check on poor Lalie, out here on her own.

Didn’t he?

There she was, asleep, curled up like the house pet on a soft mat, pillow under her head, blankets over her, a clay jug of water nearby. He peered at her face: so different from the wild, angry thing she’d been, sprinting out of the hunters’ hall covered in blood. She didn’t stir at the creaking of floorboards under Case’s feet, loud though it sounded to him.

Cruel to keep her out here like this, he thought. He gazed around at the darkness. The quiet was broken only by a fresh-smelling breeze rustling the stony yard’s stiff clumps of grass. The night’s darkness was not total — there seemed as much light as if there were stars or a sliver of moon above, and that was probably the strangest thing. Direct from the front porch, that’s where they’d come from. The woods stretched out to the left as a thick, pitch-black line. A night bird of some kind screeched horribly from that direction, and he shivered.

It was a night bird, he hoped. So many perils, so many horrors. He’d thought the old world was a dark, terrible place. Maybe it was. But at least you knew there it was other people out to get you most of the time. Not some unknown, unnameable things …

He didn’t know why, but yes, his feet took him down the steps of the porch. And then, well, it seemed he was walking out through the stony field, a little adrenaline surging in his veins as he spun around, eyes sweeping all directions, looking for something. Or, of course, someone.

He’d known he would see her here, had known it before he excused himself and came outside. And there, not too close: a little glimmer of green.

Case ran for her. There she was! And he wondered: why should he have missed her so much? He hardly knew her. But she stood, that smile on her face, that glint in her eyes, eyes that seemed to see him inside out and to understand: You can’t help but to bewhat you are. Don’t worry! It’s not all bad! You’re fine. I see you as you are, as you used to be, as you might have been. They are all fine.

In her hand was a cup, and he knew what was in it. ‘I didn’t know if you’d come,’ she whispered, handing it to him. ‘A few nights, I’ve waited for you. This is as close as I dare get, even though your mage sleeps.’

‘He’s not my mage,’ Case said. He sipped the delicious cold wine, felt the buzz cloud his head. ‘I don’t want to be with them any more. Even Eric … well, even he seems to have fallen in with em. I want to be with-’

‘Shh, shh. Do they know you’re out here? Are all your companions asleep?’

‘No. They think I’m on the porch, there. Listen, be careful out here on your own. We’ve seen some bad things in those woods. Why not come in, introduce yourself?’

‘I cannot. There are reasons I cannot, which will make no sense to you, Case, though I know you mean well. I need you to trust me on this: I mean well too.’

‘I believe you, miss, but they probably won’t, no matter what I tell em.’

‘You need not tell them a thing.’ She touched his arm and it sent pleasant chills through him. ‘Case, do you know where they are headed? I follow, and keep many threats at bay. You would not have made it this far without me. But it helps to know Anfen’s intentions.’

Case thought back. ‘He said something about meeting a council-’

‘Council of Free Cities?’

‘That’s it, I think.’

‘Good,’ she said, nodding. ‘He must. And I shall help him get there, though he may not see it. You had better go back.’

‘Stranger, look, please be careful out here. I’m telling you. There’s something bad in the woods and we saw what it did.’

She laughed that sparkling laugh — damn it, nothing would hurt her, nothing could hurt someone with a laugh like that. ‘I am well aware of them,’ she said. ‘Tormentors, they are called. There are none nearby, for the present.’

‘What are they supposed to be?’

‘No one knows. The castle is as frightened of them as everyone else. Anfen may rest assured of that. They come from World’s End, from beyond the great wall, the Land None Have Seen. Few know this. But you must go back. There’s another mage, not far, in the guise of a wolf. I must hide, for his intentions aren’t clear to me. Sleep well, Case.’

‘You too, miss. And thanks for the drink.’ Case wiped away a tear, and wondered why he’d shed it. She’d vanished, but her voice came from the gloom: ‘Be safe, Otherworlder.’

32

The next day brought more hours of sword craft in Faul’s lonely back yard, surrounded by scattered man- sized knuckles of obsidian black stone. When they were done, every part of him ached and some little cuts crisscrossed his forearm where Sharfy’s sword had come a fraction too close. They sat for a breather by the back steps. ‘Who’s going to teach me magic?’ Eric asked.

Sharfy’s reaction surprised him with its vehemence. ‘No!’

‘And why not?’

‘Want to risk going halfway mad?’

Eric laughed. ‘Look, life as I know it is forfeit. Understand? You guys won’t let me go back and read comic books or get laughed at by co-workers ever again. Yeah yeah, I know what you’re going to say, how it’d be impossible even if you wanted to. The point is I am not thinking long term here. I am thinking: what kicks can I get before something bites my head off in a week’s time? To be able to cast a spell, an actual spell, would almost make it all worthwhile.’

‘Make what worthwhile?’

‘Having to see all the dead bodies I’ve seen, we’ll start there.’ Sharfy surprised him by laying a hand on his arm gently. ‘If you don’t already have talent, no one can teach you. You’d know if you had talent because you’d see magic in the air. If you don’t see that already, you won’t learn to cast. Don’t be sad about it. If I had talent, I wouldn’t learn. If you learn, they come hunt you, unless you’re like Loup is, and can stay out of their way.’ Sharfy contemptuously flung the army-issue sword to the ground. During their session he’d cursed the weapon nonstop.

A flock of birds suddenly erupted from the woods’ line of dark green in the distance to their right, with a faintly heard explosion of shrieks and squawks. ‘And what might that be?’ said Sharfy, standing and reaching for the sword again. No one had mentioned the horror of the doomed hunters’ hall since they came here, but they hadn’t forgotten it wasn’t very far away.

Loup suddenly barrelled down the back steps, an excited grin across his face. ‘There they are! There’s our dancing mages! Hoo! She’s back on our tail all right. Far Gaze doesn’t know what to make of her either, you watch!’ Loup jogged off towards the woods, peering at distant things none of the rest of them could see and hopping from foot to foot with excitement. Sharfy ran after him and tried to get some idea what in blazes he was talking about.

On the other side of the yard the man of the house, Lut, was watching Siel push along a wheelbarrow full of bark strips he used for brewing. At that moment she evidently tired of all this toil and hurled the cart sideways, spilling its contents across the ground. She ignored the man calling her back, instead storming directly towards the back steps.

Eric watched her come. ‘These people are feeding us,’ he said. ‘Maybe we should earn our keep.’

‘I’ve earned it by risking my life for weeks,’ she replied, tugging on both braids at once, to indicate