It wasn’t too far after the chanting that the ice demon stiffened, looked around, and pointed into a small alcove. The illumination burning on Justlance’s tip revealed a narrow flight of stairs, fleeing upwards.
Victoricus whispered, “This way.”
Gunggari walked to the alcove, bent to one knee, and examined the floor, the edges of the alcove, and the first few steps beyond. He grunted, nodding, and said, “Someone has recently ascended. More than one person.”
Marrec smiled. “Good. I can’t wait to see the expression on Fallon’s face when we finally catch him.”
Gunggari added, “Actually, more than two have gone up these stairsat least three. One set of prints must be Ash’s, they’re so small. The others are adults.”
“How many?” queried Marrec, worried.
“It’s hard to say. Could be as many as four more people, though some of the prints fade in and out. It is strange.”
“Let’s hurry, then,” Marrec decided.
They filed into the alcove; it was too narrow to go except one at a time, then on up the stairs, moving with alacrity. Victoricus, not so proficient on the stairs, fell behind.
5›he caught them just as they left the grasp of Under-Tharos. Some stars were visible through the overhanging branches of the Rawlinswood, but their light was not sufficient to illuminate Damanda and her cohorts as they fell upon Fallon and the child.
The elf hunter struggled in Bonehammer’s grip, before subsiding when Damanda caught his eye. “Easy, Fallon. You’re among friends, now.” She couldn’t help but smile when she spoke. Friendship was something Damanda knew of only as an intellectual concept.
Slender Absalme caught the child by the hair and made to lift her free of the earth. The girl called Ash reached up and touched Absalme’s wrist. A burst of sun-bight light exploded from where finger touched arm.
Damanda screamed, throwing a hand over her face. The light burned her, drove like hammered nails into her eyes, but an instant later, the terrible radiance winked out.
When she could see again, blinking away the great purple blotch, she saw that both Bonehammer and Lex lay moaning and steaming, just as her own exposed flesh still smoked.
There was no sign at all of Absalme.
It was clearer to Damanda, then, why the girl was also called the Child of Light. Damn the Rotting Man for failing to mention that particular detail. She snarled to her two remaining lieutenants “Get up, you sluggards.”
Luckily, Ash didn’t press her advantage. She had merely reacted to a touch she didn’t like and now stood quietly.
Meanwhile, Fallon also still stood, blinking, though of course his flesh hadn’t reacted quite so explosively to the light thrown off by the child. Damanda sighed. Fallon would retain his use, after all, she realized. She glided up to the elf, her eyes and skin already healing over.
“What were you trying to accomplish, ascending to the surface, elf?”
Fallon took a breath, then said, “I thought I could get to the center of Dun Tharos quicker, here on the surface, where my wood lore would be useful.”
Damanda shook her head and said, “You were instructed by the Talontyr to lure your pursuers through the dangers of Under-Tharos.”
“I was also entrusted to bring the Child of Light to him at the center. If I had fallen prey to some wandering demon below, I couldn’t very well do that, could I?”
Damanda’s eyes narrowed. Fallon was too impertinent for an underling. Time to end his independence here and now. She caught his eye, trying to snare him with her will. She was shocked when something, some obstruction in the elfs mind, prevented her. Some influence of the Child of Light, she knew instinctively.
She settled for cuffing the elf. Such was her strength that Fallon cried out, nearly felled.
Damanda lied, saying, “Listen, Fallon. You’re alive right now because you’ve proved yourself to our cause. Don’t jeopardize your position with foolish impudence.”
Rubbing his jaw, Fallon nodded, though Damanda thought she could detect a hint of defiance in the set of the elfs shoulders. She promised herself Fallon’s blood, once he had served his last purpose.
Damanda continued, “We’ve got to get moving, before dawn slips over the horizon. Fallon, continue to shepherd the girl, so that she accompanies us without qualm. She seems to have taken a liking to you.”
The elf hunter took one of Ash’s almost limp hands and did not trigger a burst of destroying light. That settled it; she’d have to let Fallon live until they got Ash into the presence of the Rotting Man.
“We’ll continue on the surface for a bit, since we’re here; it will be quicker. We’ll go to ground in a little place I know ahead, before the sun rises.”
Fallon glanced from her, to Bonehammer, to Lex, and finally to where Absalme had been destroyed by direct contact with Ash’s light. Damanda didn’t doubt the elf had recognized their nature. Good. In her long experience, such recognition inspired fear and obedience.
CHAPTER 26
Fallon followed behind the slender woman with purple hair that Damanda had called Lex, pulling Ash gently with one hand. Damanda broke the trail ahead of Lex, using techniques that the elf hunter recognized in his own woodcraft. The hulking Bonehammer walked behind, ensuring that Fallon didn’t try to run off into the woods, though he hoped that he had convinced the vampires that his loyalties lay with them.
Dawn threatened to break within the hour. As each increment of time passed, he could sense the tension of the three rising. Of course, he’d known immediately what they were long before they’d caught him. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been in a position to lay a trap like he was able to do against the first lone vampiric seeker. He’d decided that his best chance for survival lay in pretending that his loyalty to the Rotting Man had never wavered.
Fallon believed he’d pulled off his ruse, though the blightlord had tried to dominate his will anyway. He had Ash’s earlier expulsion of the Rotting Man’s control to thank for his continued resistance. He squeezed her hand in thanks, though of course Ash didn’t respond.
As he walked along, he began to wonder what he had gained really. If he truly wished to protect Ash, he would have to make some sort of break for it and fight these creatures. The more they drew him into their power and the closer they ventured into the Rotting Man’s territory, the less likely he could fight his way free with his and Ash’s life intact. Perhaps he should just attack Damanda right then?
He continued to debate with himself as they walked.
They had already traveled for a few hours through the forest. He thought it interesting that Damanda made no effort to hide their passage. It either meant that she no longer feared being followed by Marrec’s group, or that she actively wished the trail be found, like a lure.
Fallon ventured, “What of the cleric and his friends, then? Did demons get them after all?”
Starlight revealed a slight shrug from Damanda ahead. She said, “Perhaps, but when we find the sanctuary I know of, we’ll make preparations, just in case.”
Fallon knew that the blightlord wouldn’t waste energy on such ‘preparations’ unless she knew there was a good chance that such an energy expenditure during daylight would have a payoff. That meant that Marrec, Elowen, and the othershe couldn’t recall their namesmight very well be on their trail.
This meant that he might have allies at his back, allies who hated him and probably wanted to kill him, to be sure, but allies all the same. He wondered what he might do to slow the vampires’ progress to give those he hoped were behind a chance to catch up.
They broke out into a large clearing. The orange light of advancing dawn revealed a large, mausoleum-like stone building in the clearing’s center. Thick undergrowth partially hid the entrance.
“What is it?” wondered Lex, speaking for the first time. Her voice sounded like a squealing hinge, irritating and penetrating.
“It is an old Nar hermitage,” said Damanda, sounding pleased. “I found it on a map the Talontyr keeps in his library. When we followed our missing morsel… er, friend, up to the surface, I decided we’d get back to the Close quicker if we took an overland route. I knew this structure would be around here.”
