The Keys to Paradise, page 36
Giles slashed at the first one and was surprised when the guard dodged to avoid the blade. Never before had he seen one retreat, so little did their ersatz lives mean to them – and so strong was the Skeleton Lord’s spell.
Feeling someone approaching from the rear, Giles spun to meet the aggressor. Keja, still pale from his ordeal, staggered away from the doorway. He carried a gaudy jewel-encrusted sword, but it looked sturdy enough for a fight. ‘The small snakes have returned to the treasure room,’ he said.
Then Keja screamed and leaped between Petia and Giles, smashing his sword against a spear. Before the skeleton man could recover, Keja lifted his sword above his head and sliced down on the exposed head. The sword rebounded from hard bone. The guard brought his spear back and thrust at Keja. He spun to the right and the spear grazed the side of his body.
‘That does it,’ Keja muttered.
He waded in, slicing right and left, making contact with every swing. He didn’t care what he hit. Arms, legs, rib cages felt the force of his blow. The dull sword broke bones. Keja paid no attention and hacked away like a demon.
Giles and Petia ducked away from Keja’s maddened, wild swings, taking care not to be caught by an errant blow. They found themselves behind the second rank of guards. Petia raised her sword with both hands and angled it down against a neck. The guard dropped, his spear clattering against the wall. Giles thrust through a spine, feeling the hum of his sword destroy the skeletal being.
When they looked up, no guards were left to fight. Keja leaned on his sword, puffing and blowing. The anger slowly left his face to be replaced by a childlike smile. ‘Bring on some more,’ he said.
‘No,’ Giles said. ‘We need to rest. Djinn, where are you?’
Halfway down the hall, Djinn materialized, beckoning to them. Petia pushed Anji ahead of her down the corridor. Giles gripped Keja’s shoulder. ‘Come on.’
Keja sucked in a deep breath. ‘Got to get my own sword. You sure that snake is dead?’ He peered cautiously into the room. The viper’s tail still writhed feebly. He edged past it and, ignoring the smaller snakes, quickly retrieved his weapon. Then he fled after his companions.
‘There are nooks and crannies everywhere,’ Djinn said. ‘What a delightful place to play at scavenger hunt. Guards come by occasionally. They’ll be poking their noses in all over soon, but I found a room that looks like it hasn’t been used for a long time.’
He tuned a corner, took a few steps and opened a door. It groaned but opened wide enough for the four to enter. Giles leaned his weight against it and closed it.
Light filtered into the room from an embrasure far above. Giles narrowed his eyes to examine the interior. Some sacking lay against one wall, but otherwise the room appeared empty.
‘I wish we had a candle,’ Petia whispered in the half light. ‘I’ve had enough snakes for one day.’
Giles held his sword ready, made a tour around the room and found nothing. He congratulated Djinn on his fine work.
‘At last we can relax,’ said Keja. He lowered himself onto the sacking and rested his head against the wall. He closed his eyes and murmured, ‘I didn’t realise how tired I was.’
‘That’s from going berserk,’ Giles said. He had never seen Keja in such a rage before. He wondered what really powered the sudden fury.
‘Djinn?’
The djinn materialized with a loud pop! behind Giles.
‘I wish you’d quit doing that. You give me the shivers. I want you to go to the dungeon and release the beasts. Send them back into the desert. They aren’t going to be of any help to us, but there’s no sense in them rotting away down there. Then come back here. If you ever hope to be changed back into a human, you’ve got to help us.’
‘Ah,’ he said knowingly, ‘the key, is it? But then, I will do anything to regain my human body.’ The djinn disappeared instantly.
Petia slumped to the floor, waving to Anji to sit beside her. She was worried. She had expected skeleton men but not the slithering and chittering creatures that the Skeleton Lord flung against them. She hadn’t worried about Anji during their trip through the desert; that had been his home as a slave. But she had not counted on the dangers confronting them now. She liked the boy, and the awesome responsibility for him had finally hit her. He wasn’t her own son – but he could have been. Petia couldn’t bear to see Anji hurt, much less killed.
Giles paced the room for a time, thinking. He glanced at Keja: fast asleep. Petia and Anji talked quietly but with great emotion. The responsibility of command fell heavily on Giles. It was hard enough with two thieves like Petia and Keja – they didn’t need an eleven-year-old to watch. He settled down across from Keja and stretched out. Gradually his heart slowed. The images of scorpions and snakes dimmed. He and the others would stay hidden here, getting needed sleep and regaining their strength. Then…
Giles slept.
* * *
Djinn made his way down to the dungeon, glancing down the hallway of each floor. Already the bodies of skeleton men, snakes and scorpions had been removed.
When he reached the large iron door, he became a mere wisp and drifted through the spy hole. Teloq sat in a stupor behind his table.
Djinn glanced across the room. The beasts were in their cage in one corner. They looked despondent, as if all hope had fled.
The old gaoler reached to a corner of the table and picked up a bottle; unsteadily he poured it into a battered cup. Djinn felt sorry for him. Teloq didn’t have much of a life. Even less now that he had let prisoners escape. Solace from a bottle. Djinn understood.
Drifting over, Djinn saw that the old man had drunk himself into a stupor. In his condition the gaoler posed no threat.
Floating to the beast’s cage, Djinn materialized. ‘Red Mane,’ he whispered.
‘Who’s there?’ The tawny beast came to the front of the cage.
‘I’ve come to free you. Giles says I’m to get you out of Shahal and into the desert. Then you’re on your own.’
Red Mane growled. ‘What do you mean, ‘out into the desert’?’ The other beasts crowded around him. He rubbed his hindquarters until they quieted.
‘Giles says you’re better off there than in a cage. He doesn’t think you’ll help. At first he was angry, but he decided not to let you languish down here. He told me to set you free.’
‘Why does he think we can’t help?’
Djinn considered for a moment, then blurted, ‘The word he used was “cowardice”.’
‘What!’ bellowed Red Mane. He spun and exposed his rump to Djinn in his anger. ‘We want our city back, and we will fight! We aren’t going back to the desert. We’d rather die first. We swore an oath on it. Let us out of here and take us to Giles.’
Djinn considered for a moment. ‘He didn’t say anything about that.’
‘Never mind,’ Red Mane growled. ‘Just release us.’
‘You’re going to need weapons,’ Djinn said. ‘I’ll unlock the cage, but stay in it until I return. I’m going to check a treasure room and see if I can find any decent weapons.’
Red Mane waited impatiently. He turned to the other beasts. ‘Just remember what you promised. “Cowards” he called us. If we want this city back, we’ve got to fight. Do you understand?’
All the beasts nodded.
Djinn returned and checked on poor old Teloq. He snored peacefully, head on the table.
* * *
Djinn opened the heavy iron door to the beasts cage. He whispered in Red Mane’s ear, ‘The halls are empty, but I don’t know how long they’ll stay that way. There are weapons, not the best, but serviceable. Quickly now, follow me.’
In minutes they reached the stairs, then slipped into the room Djinn had found for a hiding place.
Giles looked up, surprised at the number of beings entering the room. ‘I told you to turn them loose.’
Djinn, halfway changed to a vaporous wisp, lifted nearly immaterial hands in a gesture of futility.
Giles stared hard at Red Mane. ‘By the gods, you’d better fight this time. No more cowering in corners. It’s side by side with us, or we’ll turn on you ourselves.’
Red Mane glared back. ‘Don’t believe you have all the courage, human. We’re determined. We want Shahal back and we mean to have it.’
Petia held up her hand. ‘Shh. Someone’s outside,’ she whispered.
Maniacal shouting carried down the corridor. ‘Find them, you scum. You’ve got to find them. Don’t let them get away. Kill every last one of them.’
‘It’s the Skeleton Lord’s advisor,’ Anji whispered.
They heard the slow tread of the skeleton warriors marching past and Leaal’s voice hounding them mercilessly. ‘Onward, you dolts. Find them and bring me their still beating hearts!’ The voice faded down the corridor.
Then the storeroom door burst open.
Fourteen
Giles blasted to his feet, sword drawn. The beasts cowered – but Red Mane pressed close to Giles to lend aid against the intruder.
‘The door,’ Petia started. Her voice died down.
Giles turned red with rage when he saw Djinn pushing against the door. The spirit creature laughed, trying to hide the sound behind a vaporous hand. ‘Oh, this was a good prank, so good!’ he chortled. ‘The other djinn would approve. You were scared, weren’t you?’
‘Did any of the guards see you?’ demanded Giles, his anger still not fully under control. He forced calmness on himself, but Djinn made it almost impossible.
‘You worry over much,’ Djinn said. ‘They headed down the corridor, to search the far parts of Shahal.’ Djinn floated in front of Giles. ‘You are mad,’ he said, as if he’d never considered this possibility.
‘For someone who depends on our aid, you tread dangerous ground,’ Giles said between clenched teeth.
Djinn looked confused and drifted to the side of the storeroom, then slowly faded to nothingness. Giles indicated the others should rest. He settled down, arms crossed. Soon the tension fled his body and he, too, was asleep again.
* * *
Petia awoke to sunlight warming her face. She rolled over sleepily, then came fully alert when she couldn’t find Anji. Petia’s quick eyes took a poll of human and beast – Anji and Sleek were both missing.
She jerked to her feet and went to the door, peering out. Where had the boy gone? Giles would be furious at him for wandering off. She was mad at him, too!
Petia slipped into the corridor to find the youth. He couldn’t have gone far.
* * *
Giles awoke to murmurs of concern from the beasts. He sat up, rubbing his eyes and pulling the tangles from his greying hair, wondering what caused the stir among them. It took him only seconds to discover three missing from the rank.
‘When did they go?’ Giles demanded.
‘I don’t know,’ Red Mane said. ‘They were gone when we awoke.’
‘Sometime during the night, probably,’ he mused. ‘Who had the idea first, I wonder?’ He pulled himself to his feet and faced the beasts. ‘I’m going looking for them. I want you all to stay here. We don’t have any chance if we keep splitting up and going off by ourselves.’
Giles checked the hallway and slipped out. At the end of the corridor another hall crossed at right angles. He looked carefully around the corner – empty, stairways on either end.
He took them two at a time, stopping to check the next level. The passageway was empty. Giles turned the corner and hurried up another flight and into the arms of four skeleton men. He reached for his sword – too late. One guard gripped his forearm. The bony body had enormous strength in its arms and hands. Giles struggled, but the grip grew tighter.
In eerie silence, they carried him roughly up a flight of stairs to the Skeleton Lord’s chamber. As they entered, the Skeleton Lord looked up, unsurprised, from his reeking flasks.
‘Over there.’ He pointed to the corner. ‘Hold him firmly.’
Burners and candles stood beneath some of the flasks. Liquids of various colours bubbled or simmered, but many of them were shades of red. Insidious odours permeated the room and tormented his nose. Wisps of vapour rose toward the discoloured ceiling. Gases had condensed to liquid and streaked the wall with ugly blotches.
But the Skeleton Lord’s attitude startled Giles the most. The Lord took scarce note of his presence, as if he were little more than a bug that had crawled into the laboratory. Giles watched the Skeleton Lord bend over a table to look at the contents of a beaker. It bubbled merrily, sending an occasional droplet into the air. When they hit the table, they sizzled and then vanished into a wisp of acrid smoke. Giles hoped that one would hit the man in the eye.
The Skeleton Lord continued down the table, examining the contents of his glassware. Occasionally he sniffed, and once he dipped an elongated forefinger into the beaker, then tasted the liquid.
When he finished, he looked at Giles, as if wondering why the man stood there. Finally his eyes cleared and he said, ‘Guards. Stand to one side but be ready. If he tries attack, kill him.’
One gestured to another. The skeleton man shuffled forward, pulled a knife from his belt, and waited, ready.
The Skeleton Lord rounded the table, pulling a stool with him. He perched upon it to confront Giles.
He’s nearly as thin as the men he has created, Giles thought. His eyes were sunken, the skin on his face unnaturally pale. It pulled over the cheekbones like a thin layer of parchment. His robes hung loose, and Giles saw a scrawny portion of one leg. For all his power and abilities, the man wasted away to nothing. A good desert wind would pick him up and bury him in the Calabrashio Seas.
‘Well.’ The thin reedy voice puzzled Giles. When he was questioned only a few days before, the voice had been strong and unwavering. What it might mean, Giles feared he would find out all too soon.
‘Escaped from my cells, did you? And where are the rest of them? Even the beasts are gone, poor dumb things.
‘You are the leader, even though you deny it,’ the Lord continued, his voice still weak. ‘The rest of them have no chance without you.’ Giles remained quiet, waiting for some clue to the Skeleton Lord’s plan.
The Lord leaned forward, rheumy eyes studying Giles. ‘A military man, aren’t you? It shows in your bearing. And a leader, too. I could use you.’
Giles remained silent.
‘Yes, I have need of a man like you,’ he mused. ‘My skeleton men need leadership. The Harifim are mine. But there is word of a black-robed stranger gathering men from the other tribes. I don’t know what his intentions are, but I would rather be prepared.’
Giles waited for his chance. It had to come. It had to.
‘Those companions of yours,’ the Lord continued. ‘An unusual lot; unworthy of you. How did you come to throw in with them? Not the key, certainly.’ He looked slyly at Giles.
Giles blinked, his first defeat. How did the Lord know they sought the key to the Gate of Paradise?
‘I know,’ he said confidently. ‘And I’ll find your companions before long and kill them. But you can be useful to me. You could share power, a great deal of power, with me. With your military experience, I can take over the entire continent more quickly. You will lead the Harifim, be the tactician. They fight well but are undisciplined children. With me to lay out plans and you to lead them, we will sweep the desert! Then the towns. The continent will be ours!’
‘I don’t abandon my companions as easily as you think,’ Giles muttered. ‘And you’ll never conquer the continent.’
‘You may not like it much,’ the reedy voice said. ‘But if you care so much for your friends, you may wish to save their skins.’ His eyes cleared for a moment, and Giles was surprised at the intensity shining forth. ‘For I will have your help, whether you want to or not.
‘As for the key, it is useless without the others. Ah, you look surprised. Yes, there are others. The Gate of Paradise cannot be opened without them all.’
Giles thought he hid his surprise well – and that he kept the Lord from guessing that the companions already had three keys in safekeeping.
‘The Gate of Paradise,’ the Lord continued. ‘A tale, an old legend. There is no wealth or power there. I will have both here on Bandanarra. Do you not wish to share it with me?’
‘Not especially,’ Giles answered. ‘I’ve had enough of war. I’ve killed enough people. I don’t wish to kill any more.’ The skeleton men moved forward with their spears, pricking Giles in the chest.
‘Sick of killing?’ The Skeleton Lord looked surprised. ‘Why is that? Do you think that there is worth in a human life? There is, as a matter of fact.’ He pointed at the beakers on the table. ‘Blood. Blood for my experiments. Human blood and animal blood. I have worked long to find its essence.
‘When I succeed, I will be able to make my skeleton men live forever. I will make them more than the shambling beings they have become. They will be the scourge of the desert, the elite troops, leaders of the desert tribes. But I need more blood for my experiments. Even yours, if you don’t cooperate.’
‘How long have you been holed up in this city of rock, working on your insane schemes, changing tribesmen into walking skeletons, seeking to find the power to rule the entire continent?’ Giles hadn’t meant to speak; the words leaped out before he could stop them.
The Skeleton Lord held up a beaker containing a viscous red substance. He dipped his finger into it, then licked it with his tongue. Disgusted, Giles averted his eyes.
‘This is the essence of life,’ the Lord continued, as if he hadn’t heard. ‘This is what will give me great power.’
Giles stirred. ‘It doesn’t give power when it drains away from men’s bodies. I’ve watched it too many times. The slice of a sword and a man in great pain, watching himself die by inches. It’s the same with your soldiers as it has been with soldiers all over the world.’
‘The blood of my men will be different!’ the Skeleton Lord raged. ‘It will not seep away. It will stay within them, rebuilding the tissues, closing the wound.’
