Black Halo (52 page)

‘How long, sir, have you been seeking my company?’

The man spoke without flinching, without looking up. The voice had once been booming, he could tell. Something had hollowed it out with sharp fingers and left only a smothered whisper.

‘Approximately one week.’

A chuckle, black and once used to herald merry terrors. ‘I lament my lack of surprise. But would it surprise you that I was once a man whose presence was fleeting as gentle zephyrs?’ He leaned back, resting a hand on a massive knee. ‘I once was, despite the shrouded sorrow before you.’ He drummed curiously short, stubby fingers. ‘I once was.’

A closer glance revealed both the fact that the man’s fingers were, in fact, fleshy stumps, and that the hairy backs of his hands were twisted with tattoos. Consequently, any sympathy or desire to know what had happened to the man passed quickly.

Cragsman
.

Whatever cruelties had been visited upon this man by whomever was undoubtedly kindness compared to the blood he had shed, the lives he had defiled. Bralston felt his left eyelid twitch at the fate of the last Cragsman he had known.

‘Your … days of zephyr, as it were, are the object of concern,’ Bralston said curtly.

‘No gentleman would accuse another of lying,’ the Cragsman replied smoothly, ‘and whilst I am possessed of the most gracious inclination to benefit you the title of man most gentle, I can quite distinctly detect the odiferous reek of a lie dribbling out of your craw. Were I bold enough to declare, I would that you did not come all this way to discuss the seas I’ve plied and the women I’ve loved.’

That last word sent Bralston’s spine rigid, his fist tight.

‘I am concerned with the past month of your life,’ he said, ‘nothing more.’

‘Ah, now
that
bears the sweet, tangy foulness of truth to it,’ the man replied, chuckling. ‘I would still hesitate to commit fully my conscience to your claim, sir, for any man interested in the latest chapter of the script of a man named Rashodd would likely be here with the express intent of doing things more visceral than polite conversation and pleasant queries.’

His great head swung up, grey hair hanging limply at a thick jaw. His eye fixed itself upon the Librarian. Through the gloom, the yellow of his smile came out in golden crescents.

‘So I ask the man who has displayed tact towards my innards by not ripping them out through my most fortunate nose,’ Rashodd said. ‘Who sent you?’

Bralston considered carefully answering. Somehow, the words he spoke seemed tainted by the man’s presence the moment they left his mouth.

‘The Venarium.’

‘Sought by a circle of heathens, I am reduced to? From being pursued by the greatest navies of the seas? Perhaps such a degradation is fitting, having been laid low by that most meanest and crudest of callings.’

Adventurer
, Bralston recognised the universal description.
He did have contact with them, then
.

‘I digress, though,’ Rashodd continued. ‘What can I do for you, sir?’

‘I am on an extended search,’ Bralston replied. ‘The location of one party will lead to the other, I am certain.’

‘The ultimate goal being?’

Bralston studied him carefully, wary to divulge the answer. ‘Purple-skinned longfaces.’

‘Ah.’ Rashodd smiled. ‘
Them
.’

‘Your tone suggests knowledge.’

‘You may safely conclude imprisonment has done little to tarnish my talents and predilections towards the coy. My knowledge of the netherlings is from the second hand of a second hand.’

‘Nether … lings?’

‘
Your
tone suggests our initial comprehension of their title to be mutual. The nomenclature would lend itself to the conclusion that they are descended from nether; that is, from nothing at all. I could not assure you that they do not live up to the name, sir, for I have never seen one, knowing they exist only through their anger towards my former allies.’

Bralston nodded. ‘Continue.’

‘On which subject? My allies or their violet foes? Of the latter, I know little but what I have heard: rumours of relentlessness, viciousness and faithlessness blended into one.’ Rashodd raised a brow at the Librarian. ‘Something akin to yourself, except with less fire and more yelling, I’m told.’

‘The Venarium has charged them with heresy.’

‘The practice of a heathenry that differs from yours,’ Rashodd said, nodding. ‘Ironic, is it not, that the faithless should steal a term used by the faithful to condemn those of a different faith … or is it just obnoxious? Regardless, I know as much of the netherlings as I knew of my allies, and you would do well to avoid both, lest you, too, find yourself embroiled in their deceits and find us with more in common’ – he held up his hand and wiggled his stumps – ‘than you would like.’

‘What I find is that my incredible patience is gradually, but wholly, stretched thin with your delusions of eloquence.’ Bralston allowed ire to sow his voice, fire to spark behind his stare. ‘My mission, my order, my
duty
has no concern for your need to waste my time with pretence. My questions are swift and to the point. You will answer them in kind.’

‘It is a sad day I live every day that the language of poet-kings is considered delusional,’ Rashodd replied with a sneer. ‘But I will answer your questions with as much open eagerness and hidden loathing as I can manage.’

That was enough, Bralston reasoned, to avoid resorting to anything fiery. ‘I have been informed, roughly, as to the nature of your “allies”. I do not hold the opinion that they are entirely factual.’

‘Factual, sir? One would assume that if you had been granted even the loosest of information regarding my former persons of association, you would recant.’ He canted his massive head. ‘Have you, sir?’

‘Thirty-six sailors of the
Riptide
have attested to the encounter.’

‘And you cannot consider the account of thirty-six good and honourable men trustworthy?’

‘There have been mass hallucinations before, often much grander in scale.’

Rashodd’s laugh gained a horrible enthusiasm. ‘Of course. The Venarium’s unwavering stance of discrediting the Gods and strangling decent men and women with their smugness is not unknown to me. Spare me the rhetoric, sir. I am well informed on the subject, and I humbly disagree with your theory.’

‘Well informed enough to infer our stance on the idea of demons?’ Bralston asked sternly. ‘Even if we were to ignore the idea that they are stories made up by priests to cow people into coercion, we cannot, and
do not
, accept the idea of an incarnation of evil, as we do not accept the idea of “evil” or “good”. We acknowledge human nature.’

‘I see … and what do
you
believe, sir?’

Men would feel anger at the Cragsman’s words, men would let their composures crack. Librarians were not men, Bralston reminded himself. Librarians answered to higher authorities. Librarians might
possess
the power to compel forthrightness through any manner of burning, freezing, crushing or electrocuting, but such would be a flagrant, wasteful demonstration of superiority that
should
, ostensibly, require no establishing.

Still, it would be satisfying …

Far more satisfying than uttering coldly, ‘There is no belief. Only knowledge.’

‘And you
know
your knowledge to be superior over that of thirty-six people? You
know
that demons do not exist?’

‘I
accept
that there are
unknowns
typically explained by frivolous imaginations by branding them “demons”. But, as stated, I didn’t come to exchange arguments.’

‘Of course not, sir,’ Rashodd replied. ‘You came seeking purple-skinned longfaces, foes inveterate of demons theoretical. The former pursues the latter for reasons unknown whilst, for reasons incomprehensible, the demons evade them. You hope to find the former by locating the latter. To find the latter, you seek a seeker.

‘And to have come this far, being a man of decencies and honorifics as befits his education, you undoubtedly know who you seek. Six members, of a band most foul, which I would conclude to be the second object of your search, would fulfil such a purpose. And, most importantly, the location of their precious cargo would put you in a fine position to locate all parties desirable, regardless of skin colour.’

Rashodd’s smile was filled with piercing congeniality.

‘But of course, you already knew that.’

Bralston took a deep breath, the first phase of a common meditative technique, taught to apprentices and used by Librarians. He raised a hand, the second phase, to hone the flow of Venarie and tune the senses.

The spark of crimson, the arcane word, the sound of a heavy body crunching against the wall that followed were part of no meditation. Yet, Bralston couldn’t deny that the sight of the man crushed between the force and stone was decidedly therapeutic.

‘Where the Venarium is concerned,’ he said, ‘there is no definition of the word “request”. You are not free to refuse what we require. You are not free to wallow in the safety of a cell when you possess what we require.’ His fingers twitched; he could feel a fleshy throat across the room tighten in his hand. ‘Not with
both
lungs, anyway. Gurgle if you will comply.’

The sound that boiled out of the man’s lips was particularly thick and moist.

‘Good enough,’ the Librarian said, relaxing his magical grip only slightly. ‘Speak quickly and curtly. What cargo do the adventurers carry?’

‘A tome,’ Rashodd gasped. ‘
The
tome. I overheard on the
Riptide
. A book to establish contact between earth and heaven … or hell. The demons want it for the latter … I assume.’

‘Pointless. Neither place exists.’

‘I saw the beast. I’ve seen the demon. It could come from no other place.’

‘The priest mentioned no tome.’

‘Sent the adventurers after it. Needs it back.’

‘And these … demons pursue it?’

‘Also need it. It’s the key.’

‘To the door to take them back to hell?’

‘No, sir,’ Rashodd gasped. ‘To let their brethren in.’

Bralston narrowed his eyes. ‘And the longfaces chase the demons …’

‘Demons chase the tome. Adventurers seek the tome. If they found it, you’ll find the longfaces and demons with them.’

‘How long ago did they set out?’

‘Two weeks, roughly. Not much supplies for the Reaching Isles. Probably dead now, or mostly.’ Rashodd found the strength to sneer through the strangulation. ‘Chase their trail to Ktamgi, north. Find whatever hell you deserve.’

Bralston pursed his lips, eased his fingers. The air ceased to ripple. The Cragsman collapsed to the floor, expelling great hacking coughs.

Bralston offered no particular apology for the treatment; the only error he had committed was, perhaps, a small expenditure of power wasted where a little patience would have been prudent. No reason for guilt, though. His course was clear.

The Reaching Isles at the edge of Toha’s empire were, as far as the atlases and charts suggested, uninhabited, the Tohana Navy outposts having long since been rendered economically unviable. Locating a rabble of desperate, half-dead vagrants should prove no great challenge; if they were
completely
dead, the task would be only slightly more difficult.

‘Describe the adventurers,’ he said, replacing his hat.

‘Six,’ Rashodd replied. ‘Three men, one woman, two …
things
. One, a shict. The other …’ He grimaced. ‘But they aren’t important. It’s the men, one in particular. There are two runty little things, but the other, a tall and evil—’

‘The woman.’

‘What?’ Rashodd shook his head. ‘No, it’s the tall man, the Sainite you’re interested in, he—’

‘
What of the woman?
’ Bralston pressed. ‘Was she in good health? Did you harm her?’

‘Ah, that’s it, is it? I am certain it is no uncertain blasphemy that you should lust after a woman of the Healer, sir, but I must wonder whose faith, or lack thereof, it offends more.’ At the Librarian’s scowl, he chuckled. ‘Rest assured, she was well, no matter what happened.’

Bralston kept the man’s single-eyed stare for a moment. A moment was all it took for him to breathe in, raise a hand, mutter an incomprehensible word, and swiftly lower his hand.

Rashodd’s face followed its arc, an invisible force sending him to kiss the stone floor with a resounding crack. He lay there, unmoving but for the faint breath that sent his body, broad and unwashed, shivering.

Not dead, then
, Bralston thought.
Pity
.

But it was no longer his concern. Restraint, wisdom, prudence were the watchwords of the Venarium; bravado, haste, fury, its anathema. He had spent enough energy on the Cragsman, wasted enough words. He sneered at Rashodd; there wasn’t even a splatter of blood to suggest his nose was broken. He would live until he was delivered to whomever would lower the axe on his head. That pleasure was not to be his.