The Undead Hordes of Kan-Gul (15 page)

Ran opened his eyes. Kancho sat before him.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“I only ask because it certainly seems like she has taken a liking to you.”

Ran grinned. “Nice to see you back in the land of the living.”

“Such as it is,” said Kancho. “Where are we?”

“A tunnel that led out from the cavern we’d been in. We thought it prudent to move beyond there in case Kan-Gul showed up and was somehow able to gain entrance through his magic.” Neviah began to stir at the sound of their voices.

Kancho nodded. “Is there water?”

“Neviah, bring over the waterskin.” Ran looked at Kancho. “How are you feeling?”

Kancho shrugged. “As well as could be expected, I suppose. The fever appears to have broken, although I still sweat.”

Neviah came over, looking sleepy, and handed the skin to Kancho. “It’s good to see you awake at last.”

Kancho sucked down the majority of the water and handed the skin back. “Thank you.” He looked around. “How did you manage to get me here? More magic?”

Neviah chuckled. “Not even close. Ran and I carried you the entire way. My arms have never felt heavier, thanks to lugging you around, you old coot.”

Kancho bowed his head. “I owe you both a tremendous debt I fear I can never adequately repay. Ran, you saved my life. That is no small matter, and I am indebted to you.”

Ran frowned. Obligation was one of the core tenets in the Murai code of honor. Once in someone’s debt, a Murai would take incredible steps to repay the kindness he’d been shown. And since Ran had healed Kancho, the debt was greater than if he’d done him a simple favor. Having a Murai indebted to you wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, Ran decided. But it could complicate things if Kancho ever decided that being indebted to a Shinobujin precluded his adherence to his code of honor.

Still, Kancho had pretty much broken that vow already by going against his lord’s wishes. Perhaps there was some good to this, after all. Ran could cultivate Kancho as an asset and use him for information. Provided Kancho was able to extricate himself from the death sentence that would no doubt be hanging over his head if he ever set foot back in Nehon. Of course, there was the small matter of escaping Kan-Gul.

Ran chuckled and placed his hand on Kancho’s shoulder. “We’ll deal with that when we come to it, all right? For now, the biggest favor you’ll be doing for both Neviah and me is to be able to walk on your own.”

Kancho hefted his sword. “I am well enough to do just that.”

“Good,” said Ran. “We’ll continue farther then.”

“You haven’t had a chance to rest fully yet,” said Jysal. “You should wait until you’ve slept.”

Ran shook his head. “No need. I won’t be able to sleep. And we’d just be wasting time. Better to use this opportunity to move on ahead. And just in case Kancho’s recovery is temporary, we’re better served moving on.”

Kancho frowned. “I don’t think the recovery is temporary, but I’ll go along with your decision. As long as you feel well enough to go on.”

“I’m fine,” said Ran. “I’ll take the lead for a while. Kancho, you come next, and then Jysal and Neviah. We’ll keep you in the middle until we’re certain that you’re better. That was a nasty wound to your shoulder, and I’m not sure if your body is finished purging itself of the poison.”

Kancho rubbed his shoulder and winced. “It’s still very tender.”

“And likely will be for some time come,” said Neviah. “The wound was grievous. I’ve bandaged it as well as possible, so it should be fine for now. But you should try to change the dressing every day if you can.”

“Thank you,” said Kancho. “I will.”

Ran led them away from their resting place and crept down the tunnel. He rounded a bend carefully, checking first to see if there was anyone waiting to ambush them. As soon as he came around the corner, a new smell greeted his nostrils. He paused and then sniffed in and out quickly a few times. But he was certain he knew the briny smell of the ocean. Despite heading northeast, they appeared to be close to the ocean once more.

The others smelled the ocean as soon as they came around the corner. Neviah frowned. “I thought we were heading inland.”

“I thought so, too,” said Ran. “But perhaps this tunnel has led us back in the other direction. I regret my sense of direction is not as keen as it would be if we were outside.”

“It’s not like we had a choice on where the tunnel led,” Neviah said.

Jysal interrupted. “Is that light up ahead?”

Ran turned and looked. Perhaps a thousand feet down the tunnel there seemed to be a faint light source coming from somewhere close by. The light flickered and made Ran think of a torch.

“Malkyr?”

Neviah sniffed. “I doubt it. Knowing his luck, that little troll is no doubt halfway home by now, astride the wheel of a new ship.”

“I don’t think he would abandon us,” said Kancho. “Malkyr’s destiny is tied to ours, I think.”

“We should proceed carefully,” Ran said. “If there is light, and it’s not Malkyr, then we could very well be walking into a trap of some sort. Let me scout ahead and see what I can find out.”

“You want one of us to come with you?” asked Neviah.

Ran shook his head. “Me first. If there’s trouble, you’ll soon know about it.”

He turned and crept down the tunnel. The light at the end would prove problematic, but Ran could work with it. He’d dealt with torches before and knew that they would throw his shadow behind him as he approached. But in a roughcut tunnel, he hoped there would be shadows to exploit.

As he moved down the tunnel, he held himself close to the tunnel wall, feeling the cool rough rock pass under his palms. He used the same cross-stepping technique he’d used back at Kan-Gul’s castle, and it enabled him to look back at the others and up ahead. If the light source was some sort of trap, he could wave the others off quickly and deal with the trouble himself.

As he drew ever closer, Ran changed his stepping technique and faced forward, shrinking down until he was low-crawling along the tunnel floor. He could clearly make out the fact that the light came from a torch. But he couldn’t yet see the torch. The smell of the ocean grew stronger with every step he took. And now he felt a breeze upon his face. It was as if someone had left a window open.

Fresh air, he thought. Being able to get out of the tunnel would be an incredible joy. As long as he wasn’t in for a rude surprise.

He saw now that the tunnel ended and the torch must have been outside of the opening. Perhaps the opening was on a cliff of some sort? He couldn’t yet see the ocean, but he supposed it would have to be somewhere up ahead. He kept moving, drawing his sword some length out of his belt keeping it close to his chest so that it didn’t bump into the walls. Ran knew enough ways to draw the sword in confined locations like a tunnel.

His knees scraped the tunnel floor, but he kept moving forward. The presence of the torch made little sense to him. If the tunnel ended in some sort of cliff, then why would there be a torch there? He drew closer and then stopped right next to the entrance.

And understood.

The tunnel did not end in a cliff over the waves of the ocean. It opened up into an underground harbor. From his vantage point, Ran was able to look down and observe the scene before him. What he saw surprised him. Ships. Lots of ships. They were large and of the type he’d seen being used to carry troops around the waters of Nehon. But these ships weren’t filled with troops. And there appeared to be only a few sailors down at the harbor proper.

Ran went back to the others and guided them forward. At the tunnel mouth, he spoke quietly and pointed out what he’d seen.

“Those large ships are used for carrying troops, right?”

Kancho nodded. “I’ve seen them before. But where are the troops?”

Ran shook his head. “No idea. It seems as though there are only a few sailors on duty down there. I don’t understand what sort of place this could be. Does Kan-Gul control this harbor as well?”

“I would assume he controls everything in this region,” said Neviah. “And that would include those ships. Remember what he said back at the castle? About the visitors from the north?”

She was right. Ran frowned. Combined with the presence of the barracks in the castle, it made perfect sense. Kan-Gul was allying himself with some large invasion force from the north. Presumably, when they first arrived, they would stay in the castle in the barracks area. From there, they would conquer the surrounding lands. And when they were finished wreaking havoc there, they would use these boats and sail for Nehon across the Dark Sea.

“This is worse than I expected,” said Ran.

“Indeed,” said Kancho. “If they are preparing to invade Nehon, then we will need to get word back to the lords across the Dark Sea. Since it is an island nation, they will never suspect they are being targeted for invasion.”

“They’ve been invaded by a maritime force before,” said Ran.

“True, but it was repulsed.” Kancho frowned. “And that was long ago. I suspect they have grown complacent and think another such attack would never occur. These ships prove otherwise.”

“Time will be of the essence,” said Ran. “If an invasion is coming, then we will need to marshal some type of defense.”

Kancho frowned and peered down at the harbor. “Do you see that ship? It’s different from the others.”

Ran looked where he was pointing. “It looks much smaller than the transport vessels. What do you make of it?”

“It’s a coastal raider,” said Neviah from behind them.

Ran turned. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I’ve seen plenty of them in my time. My family hails from a region known for piracy. The sight of those vessels always struck fear into my heart growing up. And when my parents were killed by raiders, the image of that kind of ship burned itself into my memory forever.”

Kancho’s frown deepened. “Your parents were killed?”

Neviah nodded. “It’s not something I like to talk about. But when the raiders came ashore, my father and mother tried their best to keep the raiders from taking us prisoner.” She took a deep breath. “They could not stop them, and they were killed for protecting us. Then the raiders took my brother and me anyway.”

“What happened to you?” asked Jysal.

“They took us back to their land, where we were forced to be little more than slaves. My brother was strong at first, but fell ill and died during the first winter. I managed to fight off the illness, and, in the spring, I found a way to escape. That was when I made my way to one of the protector temples. I was accepted as a student and stayed for ten years.”

“You graduated, obviously,” said Ran.

Neviah nodded. “I did. And the first thing I did was head back to the town I’d escaped from. It was still a raider stronghold, but even the most impressive forts are not immune to a woman’s wiles. Once inside, I found the men who had murdered my parents, and I killed them in their sleep. Then I laid waste to the entire town using pitch and fire.” She exhaled as the memories played across her face. “I exacted my vengeance.”

“Is this ship from the same clan that killed your parents?” asked Kancho.

Neviah shook her head. “No. It is from Nehon, judging by the flag it flies on its rear mast. See there?”

Ran looked and saw the simple black cloth emblazoned with a the image of a shark. “Raiders from Nehon? And they’ve found refuge here?”

Kancho tensed. “Look there.”

Ran looked at the spot he pointed and saw several well-armed men leaving the raiding vessel. They came down the gangway and strode down the pier as if they were in command of the area. Why would Kan-Gul consort with raiders? At first it seemed unusual, but then Ran figured that the raiders were no doubt a convenient source of information for the sorcerer. If they were constantly operating near Nehon, they would have lots of information that could prove useful, especially if Kan-Gul was planning an invasion.

“They’re definitely from Nehon,” Ran said. He could clearly see the sloped eyes that marked his countrymen.

Kancho nodded. “These are men I want to talk to. They may have knowledge that would prove useful to me.”

“Your daughter’s whereabouts?”

“Yes,” said Kancho. “If I can get them to talk, it will make my job easier.”

“I could try to get down there,” said Ran.

“You’ve done so much for me already,” said Kancho. “No, this will be something I must undertake myself. Your job is to get Neviah and Jysal out of here and find them safe transport to the temple so Jysal can get her education. I will handle the raiders.”

“You’ll probably die if you go down there without any help,” said Neviah.

Kancho grinned. “I have the penalty of death hanging over my head back in Nehon for dishonoring my clan. And death is something that a Murai lives with every moment of his life. I do not fear death.”

“But you told me you feared dying before you got a chance to rescue your daughter,” said Ran. “Surely there’s no honor in throwing your life away when you have friends who can help you?”

Kancho took a deep breath and sighed. “I cannot ask you to do such a thing.”

“You have not asked us,” said Jysal. “We have volunteered to assist you. Two different things entirely.”

Neviah laid a hand on Kancho’s shoulder. “Your honor is intact, and you should fret not. As you have helped us, we shall help you.”

“Thank you all,” said Kancho. He looked at Ran. “How do you suggest we proceed?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

From high above the underground harbor, Ran swung out over the edge of the tunnel and quickly hugged the sheer rock face leading down. This was the most critical part of the entire mission. He was utterly exposed on the rock face, and if anyone happened to look up, they would see him. His best option was to descend as quickly as possible and get down among the shadows where he felt more at home. Working in Ran’s favor was the fact that most people don’t ever look up, and if they do, they don’t look much above the level of their head.

Ideally, Ran would have waited until dark to make his descent. But the underground harbor was immune to the darkness of the outside world. A small opening at one end of the harbor led out to the sea through a tunnel carved out of the rock. But the outside world still sat at least a thousand yards away from where the harbor sat lit up by torches positioned throughout the area. At least the early part of the climb, he’d have the cover of darkness. But the lower he climbed, the brighter it would become.

Ran clung to the rocks, aware that he had no safety rope. The strength of his muscles alone would determine whether he made it down successfully or whether he crashed to his death amid the gently lolling ships and the wooden piers.

Ran did not intend to die.

Working from the most basic tenets of always keeping three points of contact, Ran slowly came down the rock face. His eyes scanned constantly, alert for the movements of the few people milling out below. Ran knew there was a chance he hadn’t spotted some of the guards that might be stationed around the area. But they needed to keep moving. Ran thought it might be possible to grab the raider ship and put to sea. It was probably their best chance to escape Kan-Gul.

A single path ran up to the tunnel, and Ran could have easily used that to descend. But that was also the most obvious path, and any guards stationed nearby would be alert to movement down the path. No one would expect a single figure to risk his life by climbing down nearly one hundred feet. This was another advantage the Shinobujin exploited—human psychology. Much like animals in the forest, humans would undoubtedly opt for the easiest path. As such, they couldn’t conceive of anyone else going a riskier and more difficult route.

Mercifully, the rock face was pockmarked and filled with plenty of handholds and footholds. If it had been exposed to the sea, Ran could have counted on a much more challenging descent amid the smoothed surface. Still, Ran’s muscles were on fire as he drew within twenty feet of the ground. It grew tempting to simply drop down among the wooden crates he saw below, but again, his discipline forced him to slow down and take his time. The most dangerous part of any mission was always when you felt like you were close to safety. During those times, the risk was always higher.

Finally, his feet touched the wooden docks, and Ran released his hands from the rock wall. He allowed himself to sink into the deepest shadows behind the crates. They were stacked two high and side by side for the length of two ships.

Up close, the transports looked even more massive. Ran couldn’t help but marvel at their size. They could easily transport thousands upon thousands of enemies to the shore of Nehon. And the warlords in Nehon wouldn’t even know about the coming invasion unless Ran was able to get word back to Gakur. The elders would know best how to proceed.

He crept along the dock with his back to the rock wall and his front toward the ships. Before each step, Ran checked to make sure he wasn’t casting a shadow ahead of him. He noted the positions of the torches and where they threw their light. Then he moved into the spaces between that light. Gradually, he drew down the dock, closer to where the raider ship sat in its mooring.

He froze when he heard voices. He let one hand slowly fall to his sword. The voices spoke a brutish tongue he did not understand. Another seafarer language, he supposed. The voices spoke with urgency. Something must have been happening. The voices died away, and Ran waited another two minutes before moving again. The temptation to rush was always so great, but fast movement risked noise and was more readily noticed by the human eye, so everything Ran did was as slow and controlled as possible.

Ran knew that the eyes of the others would no doubt be searching for him amid the crates. He wondered if Kancho could see him stalking about. He knew the older Murai warrior must have guessed what he was by now. But Kancho didn’t seem to care, at least not since Ran had saved his life.

Time would tell whether their bond would hold up over the constraints of Kancho’s code of honor.

He stole farther down the docks toward the raider ship. While far smaller than the transports, the raider ship was nonetheless impressive. She must have run at least a hundred feet long
 
and twenty feet wide at her beam. Heavy shields covered her bulwarks, and the double masts looked as thick as the thickest trees Ran had seen in Nehon. Her prow was lean and sharp, adorned with the visage of an angry demon called an Oga in his land. Ran heard more voices and paused in his assessment. Their suspicions of the raiders being from Nehon were confirmed by their language.

“We must leave by the next tide if we have any hope of making good time back,” said one voice.

“Understood,” said a second voice. “I will make sure the men are ready.”

“Excellent. Kan-Gul does not want to waste the chance to position more of our men along the coasts.”

“And what of the girl, my lord? Are we ransoming her back to her family? She claims her father is Murai. He would no doubt pay handsomely for her return.”

There was a pause. “I’m not sure what I want to do with her. She is beautiful. Perhaps I will forego the ransom and keep her for myself.”

“Your wife will not like that one bit, my lord.”

“My wife doesn’t have to know, does she?”

Both men laughed and soon passed Ran’s hiding spot on the dock. Ran eased himself back away from the crates and took a few deep breaths. There was no guarantee that the woman the men spoke of was Kancho’s daughter, but he wondered how many other Murai daughters these raiders could possibly have. Either way, it would bear looking into further. The question was: How to do it without attracting attention or exposing himself? And was the girl even on the ship itself, or was she being kept elsewhere in the harbor area?

Ran sighed. The only way to find out was to get aboard the ship.

He crept out and looked around the area. He still hadn’t seen anything that led him to believe there were guards around. It was a fact he found peculiar. Unless the raiders felt completely protected here and the need for guards seemed silly to them.

Their mistake
, thought Ran as he crept away from the crates. The gangway to the raider ship was a few steps away. Ran glanced around and then made his way swiftly up the gangway. He kept his forward momentum going with short, rolling steps that kept the boat from rocking and brought him up to the main deck as fast as possible.

He was exposed now and knew the others could clearly see what he was doing. Ran ducked down a hatchway leading belowdecks and paused halfway down the ladder listening to the ambient noises aboard the ship. The soft creaking of heavy, seaworthy ropes and the gentle lapping of waves against the hull reached his ears, but little else. Where was the crew?

Ran frowned. For an apparently busy harbor, there was very little going on. Nearly twenty heavy transports rested in the harbor, along with a raiding ship, and yet he’d seen perhaps three people the entire time he’d been there. Something was wrong. But he couldn’t put his finger on what it might be.

Unless this whole thing was a trap.

The absence of the troops to fill the transport ships made sense. Clearly the army from the north hadn’t arrived yet. But he would have expected the raiders to at least maintain some presence aboard their own ship. More so if they had a prisoner aboard.

Ran finished descending into the main cabin and regarded the doors before him. Two of them were open, and he could see into the simple galley and crew bunk area. The last door was barred with a simple lock.

Ran knelt in front of it and fished his wire from his tunic. Fitting it into the lock, he had it open in a few seconds. He stepped back and swung the door open.

What he found surprised him.

Malkyr.

The ship captain was curled up in a ball, apparently sound asleep. Ran glanced around and then nudged him awake. Malkyr stirred and groaned, putting one of his hands on his head.

Ran shushed him. “What happened to you?”

Malkyr’s eyes widened when he recognized Ran. He looked around. “Where are they?”

“I don’t know. Where have you been?”

“I followed the tunnel to its end and wound up here. I took the path down and bumped right into a guard.”

“A guard? I haven’t seen any.”

Malkyr frowned. “There were a lot of people here when I arrived. They clunked me on the head and stuffed me in here. The indignity, I tell you. Here I am a ship’s captain, and those wretches can’t even be bothered to respect my rank.”

“Raiders don’t seem to care about much aside from themselves,” said Ran. “Have you heard anything about the woman they apparently took hostage?”

“They have a hostage? I thought I was the only one.”

Ran shook his head. “I heard two of them talking about her. There’s a chance it could be Kancho’s daughter.”

“Sorry, no.”

Ran helped Malkyr to his feet. “Can you walk? How’s your leg?”

“Well enough, I suppose. Have you got a spare weapon? I feel naked without even a flimsy blade to protect myself with.”

Ran fished one of Neviah’s daggers out of his belt and handed it over to Malkyr. “Take care of that. Neviah is not a big fan of yours. If you don’t bring that back to her, she’ll probably track you down and slit your throat.”

“I don’t doubt it,” said Malkyr. “Now what?”

“We get you out of here. The girl they were talking about has to be around somewhere. We need to find her and then get her back to Kancho.”

“We’re not even sure it’s his daughter.”

“We’ll find out. In the meantime, what would it take to get this boat out to sea?”

“Why?”

“Because there’s an army coming from the north and they mean to invade all the lands around here before sailing for Nehon. We need to get word back to the warlords so they can prepare an adequate welcome.”

Malkyr looked around the boat. “She’s seaworthy enough, but I’d kill for a few more crew to take her out. If I don’t have help, it will be a troublesome thing to get out past the entrance to the harbor. Plus, I don’t know what the tides are like. We’ve been underground far too long.”

“An experienced captain like you ought to be able to tell how the tide’s going as soon as you see it.”

Malkyr grinned. “You flatter me.”

Ran frowned. “You might be a pain, but you know your trade. Can you prepare to cast off? And can you do it without attracting attention?”

“Maybe. Where are you going?”

“Back ashore. I need to get the others down here and then try to locate Kancho’s daughter.”

“Forget about her, Ran. She’s already lost.”

Ran shook his head. “I told Kancho that I would help him find her. I don’t have children, but if I ever did and one of them went missing, I’d move heaven and earth to find them.”

“A noble gesture,” said Malkyr. “But it’s worthless if you can’t find her.” He poked his head around. “I can get the ship ready. Where are the others?”

“Up above at the tunnel entrance,” said Ran. “I’ll head up there now and get them sorted. Hopefully I won’t run into any trouble.”

“If you were able to get down here without attracting attention, I doubt you’ll have any problems on the way back up.”

Ran grinned. “Now who’s flattering who?”

“Just speaking fact,” said Malkyr. “You go ahead and get them down here. I can be ready to leave as soon as you’re back.”

“You’re certain of that?”

Malkyr nodded. “If the tide is going out, the current should at least carry us out to the entrance. If some of you don’t mind manning the oars to get us beyond the entrance, we can raise sails soon after and be on our way. We could be back in Nehon in a little over a day if the winds are right and hold.”

“Excellent,” said Ran. “Don’t do anything to make noise, and I’ll be back as quickly as I can.”

“Good.”

Ran ascended the steps of the ladder and poked his head back above the main deck. The ship still lolled gently, and he could see no one nearby. He started to climb up, when he heard Malkyr’s voice behind him. “Ran.”

He dropped back down and started to turn around. “Wha—?”

But he never completed the turn before he felt something thunder into the base of his skull. Blackness swallowed him up.