The Demon Horsemen (4 page)

‘The portal is connected to the village where we left Passion and Jon,’ she explained. ‘I thought it best that we go there first.’ She met Chase’s gaze. ‘If we need to go somewhere from there, we will.’

She turned to Erin who was seated at a table at the rear of the chamber, a pile of books before him. Whisper was perched on his lap. ‘Sooner or later the Seers will learn that I’m alive. I am both valuable and dangerous to them,’ she said, ‘and they will hunt for me. For that reason, we will use portals as often as we can to move from place to place—to confuse and elude them. We’ll achieve much more that way.’

She returned her gaze to her three companions. ‘When we reach the village, you can choose whether or not you want any further part of what I intend to do. I can’t be responsible for leading you into any more danger, and what I have to do hereafter will be much more dangerous than anything so far.’

‘I just need to find my children,’ said Swift. ‘When I know they are safe, I want to help you.’

‘And I need to know that Passion and Jon are safe,’ said Chase. ‘I’m also in this, wherever it takes us.’

‘Me?’ said Wahim when Meg looked to him. ‘I’ll help in whatever way I can. You’ve told us what the Seers plan. If they succeed, all of us will be dead. If I am to die, I would rather do it fighting to stay alive.’

Meg felt tears rising at their answers. She forced them down, saying, ‘I don’t know where this will go next. Erin has shown me a great deal, taught me more about what I can do—and we know that a weapon exists that could be used against the Demon Horsemen, if it comes to that.’

‘Without Elvenaar blood the blade cannot be reforged,’ Erin reminded her. ‘You must find another way.’

She smiled grimly. ‘Then I will find that other way before the Seers succeed in releasing the Demon Horsemen.’

‘Why don’t you come too?’ Chase asked, turning to Erin.

Erin shook his head. ‘The outside world and I parted company a long time ago. When I used the amber to
seal myself in here, I gave up the right to walk above ground. I can’t help you, even if I wanted to.’

‘But you went outside two days ago to scare off the Kerwyn,’ said Wahim.

‘At a cost,’ Erin replied.

‘What cost?’ asked Swift.

Erin stood and approached the group. ‘How old would you say that I am?’ he asked Chase.

‘Thirty,’ Chase said. ‘No older.’

‘I am very much older than that,’ he said. He pointed to his dark hair. ‘Before I went above ground two days ago there was not a single grey hair on my head. Now look closely.’

Chase, Swift and Wahim leaned forward and saw the streaks of grey scattered through the darker strands. ‘They came when I was outside,’ Erin went on.

‘How?’ Chase asked.

Erin looked at Meg before he explained. ‘You know that time moves slowly in here, very slowly, due to a powerful spell. Meg thought I had created a place like the Dragonlords’ Se’Treya, but I had not read about that place before I entombed myself. Now that I have, I realise that creating Se’Treya involved a much more potent and imaginative spell. The spell I used protects the library and me from outside time, but it doesn’t negate the effects of outside ageing. If I spent a day in your world, all the years of ageing that I have cheated down here would catch up with me, and I would die and become dust. If you took with you any of the books preserved down here, they too would quickly age. They would not turn to dust, of course. Books have a much greater longevity than human life. But that is how it works, so I cannot leave here.’ He saw Chase’s astonishment and added, ‘We all make choices. Sometimes we guess at the outcome and call it a planned choice; sometimes it turns out to be nothing
like we expected. The point is that we have the ability to make choices, and once we’ve made them we should be resolute and accept the outcomes.’

‘Erin will be here if we need him,’ Meg said. ‘And now we should go.’

‘How much time have we lost?’ Wahim asked.

Meg shook her head. ‘By my reckoning we’ve been underground perhaps fourteen or fifteen days. Up there, I don’t know.’

They turned to Erin, who shrugged. ‘I’ve never thought about it in mathematical terms. It could be quite a few months—you call them cycles, don’t you?—or it could be longer.’

‘We will find that out soon enough,’ said Meg. ‘I’ll go first.’ She cast a wistful glance towards the bush rat in Erin’s arms.

‘You want her to go with you?’ Erin asked.

Meg hesitated, then said, ‘She makes her own choices. She always has.’

Erin smiled and stroked the rat’s black fur. ‘Caetlyn, my sister, always made her own choices too.’

Meg smiled, then turned and strode into the blue light.

‘I’m next,’ said Swift, and she followed Meg.

Wahim put his big hand on Chase’s shoulder. ‘Together?’ he said.

‘Together,’ Chase replied, and they walked through the portal.

Erin watched them disappear, saddened to lose the first people he had spoken to in hundreds of years. He had forgotten how much he missed human company. And then Whisper stirred, jumped down and scampered across the tiles into the light just before it winked out.

‘Goodbye, sister,’ he whispered.

The warmth where she had sat in his arms faded.

M
eg waited while her three companions knelt on the ground to recover from the disorientation and mild nausea caused by the portal travel. She remembered her own first portal experience, when she had travelled to Se’Treya to answer A Ahmud Ki’s call. In fact, it was through A Ahmud Ki’s writing,
Destinies Determined
, a copy of which she had found in the Andrakis chamber of the Khvech Daas library, that she had learnt about the nature and potential of portalling over significant distances. She sighed. The first time she had ever set eyes on his name was in the royal library of Queen Sunset under Seer Vale’s tutelage. That was a lifetime ago. She was sixteen, naive and utterly unaware of the true nature of the amber. The Seers had called the amber the Conduit and set about stealing it from her, while Queen Sunset wanted her to use it to protect her kingdom from the Seers. It had been a confusing and horrible time.

And then there had been the real A Ahmud Ki, the being cruelly imprisoned in Se’Treya—enigmatic and handsome.

‘Are you all right?’

Swift’s voice startled her out of her brief reverie and she focussed on the young woman’s lean, pale face. ‘I’m
fine.’ She shifted her attention to find the other two were standing. ‘No more dizziness?’

‘All good,’ said Wahim.

The unexpected appearance of a bush rat in their midst brought smiles to their faces. Meg scooped the rat into her arms.

‘I thought she was staying with Erin?’ said Chase.

‘Apparently not,’ Swift noted and reached over to scratch the rat’s ears. Whisper wriggled impatiently and Meg let her drop to the ground. She scampered into the undergrowth.

‘Some habits never change,’ said Wahim, grinning.

‘I know this place,’ Chase said, surveying the surrounding mallee bushes and trees. ‘We made our decision to go with you right here.’ He pointed past Meg’s shoulder. ‘The village is over there.’

‘I brought us just outside the village so that we didn’t surprise anyone by suddenly appearing among them,’ Meg explained.

‘Good plan,’ Swift said.

‘I just hope Passion and Jon are here,’ said Chase as he headed towards the village.

‘Wait,’ Meg ordered.

‘Why?’

‘We don’t know how long we’ve been away. There might have been changes.’

‘I’ll check first,’ Swift offered.

‘Be careful,’ Meg advised. ‘Patching you up isn’t a lot of fun.’

Swift grinned. ‘That won’t happen again,’ she said, and moved silently into the bush.

‘It feels like it’s Fuar season,’ Chase said. ‘Maybe we didn’t lose as much time as we thought.’

Meg studied the colour of the plants, the dying blossoms and drying seed pods, and gazed skywards. There was latent heat in the air and a bright blue
cloudless sky, common signs that the cycle of Ejasot was mid-term. They’d left the village at exactly the same time, and travelled another full cycle east, so it couldn’t be Ejasot still, unless…

‘We haven’t been a gone a year, have we?’ asked Chase, understanding sinking in.

‘I hadn’t expected it to be quite that long,’ said Meg.

‘Passion,’ Chase muttered.

‘She’ll still be here,’ said Wahim, putting an arm over his friend’s shoulder.

The grass rustled and Whisper emerged from between two mallee trees. She sat on her haunches and stared at Meg.

‘What’s she doing?’ Chase asked.

‘Shh,’ said Meg. ‘She’s telling me there’s someone in the village wearing a yellow robe—a Jarudhan acolyte.’

‘A priest out here?’ Wahim said. ‘Why?’

‘Because they already have Passion,’ Chase blurted and he started for the village again.

‘Where do you think you’re going?’ Meg snapped.

‘My sister! Those bastards have taken her, haven’t they?’

‘And what are you going to do about it if they have?’ Meg asked. ‘One person with no weapons in the middle of nowhere?’

Chase glared at her, frustrated at having no answer.

‘Wait until Swift gets back,’ Meg ordered. ‘We’ll know more then and we can decide what to do.’

Chase looked at Wahim who nodded agreement with Meg. Infuriated, Chase clenched and unclenched his fists, but stayed put. Whisper disappeared back into the bush.

Moments later, Swift appeared. ‘There’s a priest in the village.’

‘We know,’ said Chase angrily, and when Swift
turned to him for an explanation he added, ‘Whisper told us.’

Swift looked to Meg who nodded. ‘What else do you know?’ the young woman asked.

‘That’s all.’

‘All right,’ Swift continued. ‘There are changes. The women are sitting at the doors to their huts or just inside, working on whatever it is they’re doing, but none of them are down at the river. I didn’t see any children older than five or six. Everyone is wearing yellow robes, like the priest. The men are gathered outside a small building—a new one.’

‘A temple,’ said Meg.

‘Could be,’ Swift conceded. ‘And there are four soldiers. They have a small hut on the other side of the village. They were playing cards.’

‘Passion?’ Chase asked.

Swift shook her head. ‘I didn’t see her, but then she could be inside one of the huts.’

‘I told you they’d taken her,’ Chase snarled.

‘I saw a boy who looks like Jon,’ said Swift. ‘He’s down at the river with a handful of other children. That’s where the priest is. It’s like he’s teaching them.’

‘They’re not good signs,’ Meg said quietly. ‘The priest and the soldiers are bad enough, but the other things you described suggest something worse is going on. We need to talk to someone.’

‘We need to get Jon out of there,’ Chase interrupted. ‘And find Passion.’

‘We will,’ Meg agreed, ‘but I think we start with the acolyte. Whatever he knows will tell us how bad the situation really is.’

‘How will you get to him?’ Wahim asked.

‘Everyone sleeps some time,’ said Swift, grinning.

Meg looked at her, seeing the professional assassin emerging. ‘It has to be done with great care,’ she said.
‘We don’t need a fight with the soldiers and we don’t want to put these people at risk.’

The sunset lit the sky with sheets of red and gold and faded slowly into the pinks and violets of early evening. Magpies chortled in the gum trees and crickets chirped in the long yellow grass at the edge of the bush, the familiar sounds of her childhood making Meg feel melancholic. Watching from their secluded position, the group had observed the changed rituals of the village as the afternoon waned. The children returned to their huts, filing inside, while the men went about what seemed routine working tasks—cutting wood for cooking fires, hunting game as evening neared, repairing walls and roofs, tending cattle and sheep. Close to sunset, the yellow-robed acolyte opened the crudely constructed wood-and-thatch temple’s door and rang a small bell. The villagers came from every direction—men, women and children in their yellow garments—and obediently filed into the temple, each taking a tiny peck of purple powder from the acolyte’s hand as they passed. The four soldiers appeared and crossed the village square to enter the temple too. The door closed and the voices of combined prayer rose.

‘What was that they took from the acolyte?’ Chase asked, but the wariness of his tone revealed that he had already guessed at a possibility.

‘Euphoria,’ said Wahim, confirming what the others suspected.

‘The Seers are on the move,’ said Meg. ‘We’ve lost valuable time.’

After the sun and sky colours had faded the praying ceased. The villagers filed out of the temple, moving quietly through the shadows to their homes. The children emerged under the watchful care of two women who led them across the square to a large hut.

‘They’re separating the children from the adults,’ Wahim noted.

‘I’m sure that’s Jon down there,’ said Chase, squinting in the dim light and pointing to show Swift. ‘The fifth little boy.’

Lanterns sparked to life and windows glowed yellow as people began to prepare their evening meals. Quiet settled over the village.

The group waited patiently until the lantern lights in all the windows diminished. Then Swift and Wahim, flanked by Whisper, crept through the moonlit undergrowth towards the temple. Meg waited with Chase, listening to the nocturnal animals move through the grass and bushes and trees.

A grunt in the dark startled Chase. ‘What’s that?’ he whispered.

‘Possum,’ Meg responded.

In the far distance a dog barked. ‘Dingo near a farm,’ she added.

‘You know so much about the countryside,’ Chase said.

‘I grew up in it,’ she replied and let the silence settle around them.

Shadows appeared near the temple and the door opened, splashing dull candlelight onto the earth, before it closed again silently. Meg watched the village for movement and listened, but no one was abroad. Moments later, the temple door opened again, this time without light spilling out, and a humped shadow slid across the space to the edge of dark bush. The door closed and a second shadow sped after the first.

‘We should be far enough from the village now to avoid being heard,’ Swift said.

‘Put him down here,’ Meg instructed. Wahim lowered the bound and gagged acolyte from his
shoulder to the ground and leaned him against a large white boulder. ‘Keep watch,’ Meg told Chase and Swift. ‘Wahim and I will talk to our friend.’

‘Where’s Whisper?’ Chase asked.

‘She’ll already be keeping watch,’ said Swift. ‘You take that side. I’ll go up the slope.’

The pair separated into the moonlit bush. Meg conjured a small light sphere and suspended it an arm’s length above the prisoner. The light revealed the plain-featured face of a young man, his head shaved in the traditional acolyte manner. Meg squatted before him, noting fear and fascination in his eyes.

‘I have no intention of hurting you,’ she said, ‘but I need to talk to you. I will undo your gag because I trust you to be sensible.’

She reached behind the acolyte’s head to loosen the knot on the cloth gag, and let it slide down to the prisoner’s neck. Then she sat back, cross-legged, to face the young man. Wahim stood to her left, arms folded in his accustomed stance when working at the Perfect Pleasures brothel.

‘My name is Meg,’ Meg said to begin. ‘And yours?’

The Jarudhan acolyte looked up at Wahim before he met Meg’s gaze and replied, ‘Surelight.’

‘And you have come to the village to serve Jarudha,’ said Meg, noting that the young man was trying to maintain his courage.

‘That is Jarudha’s call to me,’ Surelight said.

‘Are you happy to be here?’ she asked.

Confusion flickered across his face. ‘I obey Jarudha. His call is my happiness.’

‘How long have you been in the village?’

‘Five cycles.’

‘And there have been changes in the kingdom. What has changed in the last year?’

Surelight glanced at Wahim again, as if assessing
how much truth he should share. ‘Where have you been?’ he asked.

‘Travelling,’ Meg replied, surprised that the prisoner should question her. ‘What has changed?’

‘Paradise is dawning,’ said Surelight. ‘We are in the Last Days when only those who truly follow
The Word
and are faithful believers in Jarudha will live to enter Paradise.’

Meg glanced at Wahim who pulled a face in the light of the sphere. ‘But what has changed?’ she repeated.

‘The new king is a child of Jarudha and he has swept the city clean of the evil, the corrupt, the polluted and sick souls. He protects the servants of Jarudha so they may teach those who will learn the way of the righteous path. Port of Joy is readying for the coming of the Demon Horsemen, for their vengeance on sinners in holy Jarudha’s name will be wrathful.’

‘Who is the new king?’

‘Shadow, Jarudha’s child.’

‘What happened to Prince Inheritor?’

‘He was betrayed by his younger brothers who desired the throne for themselves. They arranged Inheritor’s assassination then turned their armies against Port of Joy, but Prince Shadow, protected by Jarudha’s faith, defeated them all.’

‘And is now the king.’

‘As Jarudha intended. He is the Chosen One who is paving the way to Paradise.’

‘And when do the Seers expect the Demon Horsemen to come?’

‘Very soon. When all the people are faithful followers they will come and judgement will be made.’

‘Why are the soldiers here with you?’

‘The king in his wisdom has given every acolyte protection in Jarudha’s name from those of evil who dare to resist.’

‘And where are the children?’

‘They are asleep, as good children should be.’

Meg leaned forward. ‘I mean the older children.’

The acolyte blinked. ‘When a child is of age, he is sent to school in the city to learn
The Word
and his role in preparing for Paradise. The eldest boy of every family begins his path towards serving Jarudha as an acolyte. The next eldest learns how to be Jarudha’s soldier. The rest learn how to live a good life with respect for Jarudha and his faithful.’

‘And the girls?’

‘They learn how to keep their family and serve their men. Theirs is the most holy of roles.’

‘And everyone wears the yellow robes now.’

‘Only the truly faithful: those who pray three times each day and do Jarudha’s work.’

Meg stood and took several steps away from the circle of light.

‘It seems we’ve missed a great deal,’ Wahim said. ‘What will we do with our friend?’

‘I need to think,’ Meg replied. ‘Watch him.’

She walked on until she was beneath the boughs of a large gum tree. The soft silver moonlight gave the white bark a ghostly sheen and she felt as if she was surrounded by the ghosts of her past, all of whom were asking her,
What will you do
? She looked back at the acolyte in the circle of light from the floating magic sphere, and Wahim standing guard over him.
I still have a long journey ahead of me
, she decided. Memories of discussions with A Ahmud Ki about the nature and form of magic during their escape from Shesskar-sharel, and information from books she’d read long ago in the Royal library and on the island circled through her mind, along with her most recent readings in the vast Khvech Daas library. Hundreds and hundreds of spells to choose from—and all she had to do to make sense
of them was to channel her will through the amber. She had to make choices every step of the journey. First, however, there was the problem of the prisoner. She considered the multitude of possibilities, chose one, and headed back to the light.