The Godlost Land (10 page)

“Because they're not my fellow priests of course. They follow the demons. These ones mostly follow Est.”

Demon thralls? It was a serious charge to level against someone. Especially against a priest. Those who were found to belong to the various denizens of Hades and the rest of the demonic realms were put to death. It was the only way. After all, demons had only one purpose in life – to eat. And what they ate were people. Sometimes it was the flesh, the blood and the bones. But sometimes, particularly with the more powerful demons, it was the life force itself that they consumed. And no matter what they did, when a demon took a thrall, it was always with the intention of getting him to provide him with food. A thrall was a bonded servant, little more than a slave. But a demon thrall was something less than that. Their service was bonded with their blood and their souls. Whatever their master wanted they did. They had absolutely no choice.

And then there was Est. The demoness assassin. He knew her name of course. Most people did, if only as a name spoken around a hearth at night to frighten children. And yet what the woman was saying was insane. The demoness was no goddess. She would not interfere in divine matters. She would know better. And she had no thralls as far as he knew. There were a few wizards who summoned her from time to time. Who used her to kill their enemies. After all, she was a nearly unstoppable assassin. And she could also train others in the assassin's art. But that was it. There were a few who bonded themselves to certain demons, but not to Est. She simply wasn't powerful enough to have thralls. And if she did they wouldn't wear the robes of a goddess' followers. They wouldn't dare.

“That makes no sense.”

And it still left him with the basic problem of what to do with the priestess. Kill her? Free her? Leave her there? He didn't know.

“Check their wrists.”

The priestess had a point he realised. Thralls of demons, those who were powerful enough to have thralls, were branded on the insides of their wrists with the sigils of their masters. But given that he had set all three of them alight that was going to be difficult to check. However there was an alternative. Their personal weapons would also carry the markings.

Reluctantly – it felt as if he was giving in to the priestess' lies or madness – Harl decided to do as she said. So he left her still safely trapped within her cage, and went to examine the piles of ashes to see if he could find some evidence.

There wasn't much though. The crossbows of the two priests were simply normal weapons with no markings of any sort. But then he hadn't expected them to carry any markings. They weren't personal weapons they would carry all the time. Using a stick to push and prod at the piles of charred remains, Harl quickly found the priests' knives. The knives clearly had markings on their hilts. Unfortunately the markings were nearly burnt off. They could be the markings of the demoness. But they could equally be the markings of Artemis. He had no way of knowing which if either. Still, he retrieved his own knives from the priests' remains. They had worked well after all and he didn't want to have to craft too many more if he didn't have to. A quick wipe down with some long grass and they were back in their scabbards.

The High Priest's body was in even worse shape than the others. It had burnt much hotter than the rest, presumably because he was a wizard as well as a priest, and what remained even after only twenty minutes of fire was little more than ash. As for his knife, if it had been a knife, it was barely even a blob of melted metal. He would learn nothing from it. Harl's knife had been luckier and he quickly found it lying in a patch of tall grass where it had been knocked aside. It quickly joined the others in his belt.

Shortly he was standing there, re-armed and ready for another battle, but no wiser than before. He had a High Priestess of Artemis who had been locked in a cage by others including another High Priest of Artemis. A riddle that would make a fine bard's tale. He had no way of knowing if she was an enemy or perhaps even somehow an ally. Or something else. It was a problem that required answers he had no way of obtaining. Then there was a dryad who had lied to him. But that was no riddle and no surprise. And he knew he had little time to decide. Sooner or later other riders would come down the track, and some of them he had no doubt would be either more priests of Artemis, or more thralls of the demoness. Neither was good.

Which left him back at the start. He had rescued someone he hadn't intended to save. And now he had to work out what to do with her. The right thing he thought was to kill her. For whatever reason Artemis' priests were chaining and killing one another, in the end they were all her priests. And his sword was ready for more blood.

Harl walked back to the High Priestess' cage, thinking to end this quickly. He didn't know what was happening. Why some priests of Artemis should be caging others. Or alternatively whether demon thralls were caging priests. But it didn't matter. Priests of Artemis or demon's thralls – they all had to die.

When he reached her though it was to find that things weren't quite as they had been. Five minutes before she had been locked in her cage, unable to do anything. Now she was still locked in her cage, still chained, but she wasn't alone. Standing almost on top of the smoking remains of the manticore was a unicorn, and the creature looked fierce.

Harl stood there and stared at it – shocked.

He'd never seen a unicorn close up before. Only in the distance as they raced across the grasslands of Lion's Crest, celebrating their freedom as no other creature could. And he had to admit that it was a wondrous beast. It was white and beautiful. More delicate than a horse but that belied its impossible speed and power. And the spiral horn on its head shone with magic. But as wondrous as it was he knew it was dangerous. Unicorns were deadly foes. Undeniably beautiful and graceful beyond understanding but deadly. Their horns were weapons far more dangerous than any sword, and they had the speed and grace to wield them with deadly accuracy. And as he belatedly remembered, they were also the traditional companion of the Huntress. In her faith it was claimed that she rode a great white unicorn on the hunt while griffins flew by her side. It seemed that her High Priestess could call them too.

Seeing the beast standing there came as a shock to Harl. But it was more than that. It was somehow wrong. The beast was magnificent. Beautiful and deadly but also glorious. It was also a symbol of all that the Huntress was supposed to be. All that she had been before she had turned her horrific chimera upon people. And now it seemed that he was going to have to fight and kill one before he could kill the traitorous Goddess' servant. That was wrong.

“You! Soldier! Attend to me!”

The High Priestess' voice rang out suddenly, and this time there was a sound of command in it. She was still locked in the cage. Iron chains still held her captive. But despite that she was no prisoner any longer.

Slowly, reluctantly Harl did as he was told, his hand on the hilt of his sword all the way. And as he approached from one side the unicorn approached from the other, coming to stand between him and the High Priestess. Harl understood the message. The High Priestess knew the dark dream that was on his mind. She was determined that it would not come to life.

Soon he was standing perhaps three or four paces from her, his hand still on the hilt to his blade, while the unicorn was just off to his right but positioned neatly between them. And the High Priestess was in the cage still, watching carefully. She knew his heart but did she know his gift? He wondered about that. Her cage had been covered. She had not seen the battle. All she knew was that her enemies had been slain and burnt. Did she guess how? Because if she believed he was just a soldier then there was still a chance.

“Now you have been told lies. You have seen them. But before you stands the symbol of my Lady. Of her magnificence and purity. In her creature you may see the truth. And the truth is that the Huntress did not bring the beasts you claim to Lion's Crest or anywhere else. They are not her creatures, this you know. Hers are the unicorns and the griffins. Not these twisted things.” She pointed to the remains of the manticore. “She would never use such an abomination.”

She was speaking of the past. Things that would once have been true – or that he would have once believed were true – but not any more. The chimera came from her temples. Her priests directed them in their killing.

“You may yet have doubts. But in your heart you know this for the truth. And you have seen the markings of the demoness upon the wrists of the false priests. Your doubts will pass in time.”

Of course from her position in the cage he realised, she could not see the bodies of the fallen priests. She did not know that they were char. That he understood, though not completely why she should imagine that even if they weren't and he had seen the markings she claimed upon them, why he should suddenly absolve her of blame for her crimes. Even the presence of the unicorn could not make him do that.

“Now you may bow your head to the servant of the Goddess so that she may know your truth.”

Harl didn't know whether she meant to herself or the unicorn. But he knew he was never going to do as she asked. So instead of bending his neck he stood there, straight and tall, his hand firmly upon the hilt of his blade. It seemed to annoy her.

“You will not bend your neck as is proper?” There was anger in her voice. Outrage too. As if it was an insult. And he could see that same outrage in her blue eyes. He thought he might even see it in the great dark eyes of the unicorn. And in the way its horn was glowing.

“I will not.”

There was silence for a while after that. Silence as she studied him and decided what to do. He imagined it was no easier a decision for her than it had been for him. She had a powerful ally with her, but she knew he was a powerful warrior. To fight was to gamble. For both of them. Eventually she came to a decision.

“All right soldier with no name. You have the mark upon you of one who has suffered pain. For that and because of your service this day in killing the dark gaolers who have held me for so long, I will allow your slight to pass unanswered. But know that this will not always be the case.”

“You may leave.”

She didn't raise her voice or give a command to her companion, but suddenly the unicorn was standing directly in front of him, horn at the ready, and he knew that a threat was intended. A threat he was uncertain he could face. His knives could possibly kill the beast, but not before it killed him. His armour would not stop its horn from goring him. And with sword in hand he might stand a chance of killing it quickly, but only a chance.

But it was
a unicorn
. To kill such a magnificent creature would be a crime.

On the other hand if he left she would be free soon. The unicorn would break the locks of the cage that held her and the chains that bound her, and the huntress' servant would be free. Free to cause more harm to innocents. He did not want to die but he did not want that either.

The moment held for what seemed like hours as he tried to decide what to do, and then unexpectedly the decision was taken out of his hands. The horses suddenly whinnied and then took off, and the wagon with the High Priestess was taken with them. He watched her be thrown against the back of her cage as the wagon raced away, while his sword was still in its scabbard and the unicorn was still standing between him and her.

What had happened? Even as he started and stared at the wagon heading off in front of him he wondered, just as he wondered what he should do about it. Push his way past the unicorn somehow and run after her brandishing his weapon?

But just as he thought to do it the wagon veered a little as the horses galloped around the burnt out wagon in front of them, forgetting in their panic that the wagon they were pulling couldn't move so easily. They were horses after all and no one was guiding them. Abruptly the High Priestess' wagon smashed into the front wagon with the sound of wood crashing and splintering, but didn't stop. The High Priestess' wagon was after all the larger one. So instead the front wagon was shunted off the track and into the trees. Then finally when it was far enough away the unicorn gave chase.

All of which left Harl standing there in the road, wondering what he should do. But even as he wondered he knew that there was nothing he could do. He couldn't run faster than the horses. And if he tried there was always a unicorn to face before he got to the High Priestess.

And so he continued to stand there, staring at the wagon as it disappeared into the distance, and wondered if he had just made things better … or even worse?