Sons of Evil: Book 1 Book of Dread (26 page)

“And it is getting on toward
evening,” Barlow added.

Adrianna smiled and pulled her
cloak more tightly about her. “I think you both just said ‘Yes.’ ”

*

Two days after the Book of
Dread and its current guardians left the dwarven realm, Praad knelt to the
south of the Long Shadow Mountains. He reached out and touched the ground, and
then sniffed his fingers. A smile cracked his ghoulish face, a smile that would
have chilled the heart of anyone that beheld it. He laughed to himself and
thought
, This is precious. This is perfect.
He wondered which of the
party had fallen, decided it was worth finding out, that any delay would be
short. He knew he was close to his quarry, and wanted to get on with his
business with them, but understanding whose blood he currently smelled would
make the torments he planned for the living all the more powerful.

He easily followed the path
they had taken into the mountain, the scent he followed all the stronger now
with the spilling of blood and of death. He paused only a moment or two before
he found the secret door, and he grudgingly admitted to himself the dwarves had
some skill, not that it mattered.

With a thought the door opened
and he entered.

When they had first looked
upon the north face of the Long Shadow Mountains, they had noted right away how
much more of the dark stone was covered with snow. Now the mountains were just
gloomy shapes on the horizon, and the snow hard to distinguish from the thick
clouds that currently hung about the mountain peaks. The terrain over which
they traveled was hilly and wooded, and each of them often looked back toward
the now-distant mountains, marking their progress but also wistfully, as if
they were a barrier crossed between this foreign land and home.

If Adrianna had not known what
had happened to Luke, she wouldn’t have been able to guess it from Darius’
behavior. He was a bit quieter perhaps, sometimes his mind drifting to some
other place, but that was not uncommon for one traveling throughout the day
with little to occupy one’s time other than infrequent conversation and one’s
own thoughts. She was unsure what to make of his behavior—everyone dealt with
death in their own way—but it worried her. They camped that night in a fairly
well-sheltered grove, so they braved a fire to warm themselves and their food. After
dinner was finished, and before they had to set the night’s watch, Barlow and
Silas were engaged in reminiscing about past days, and Darius had wondered off
a bit, sitting against the trunk of a thick oak and gazing skyward. Adrianna
took advantage of the opportunity presented, making her way over to him.

“Mind some company?”

“Sure,” he said without taking
his eyes off the sky. “Just looking at the stars.”

“Making a wish?”

“Hardly,” he said with a tired
laugh. “Just thought I might see a few new constellations this far north.” He
pointed from spot to spot while he called out a few common southern
constellations by name, then added, “I see some new stars, but I guess I’ll
need to connect them myself and decide what they should be called.”

“The elves can probably give
you the proper names, when we arrive.”

“True. Kind of fun to do it
yourself, while you can. Once someone puts the outline together for you, it’s
hard to see anything else.”

They sat in silence for a
time, enjoying the soft sigh of the insects and the low chatter of their
friends’ conversation.

Darius glanced once at
Adrianna, and was glad to see she was looking at the sky, rather than at him. Even
so, he said, “I’m okay. I don’t need you to worry about me.”

“We need to look out for one
another.”

“Like we did for Luke?” He
regretted the words immediately. “I’m sorry. I’m not blaming any of you.”

“Are you blaming yourself?”

“A bit,” he admitted with a
sigh. After a short pause he added, “Maybe more than that.”

“I won’t bore you with a long
speech about why you shouldn’t do that, how it wasn’t your fault. Time might
give you a better perspective on that, assuming you’ll forgive yourself. You’re
the only one that can do that, and nothing any of us can say will get you to do
so until you’re ready. But we need you with us, all your mind and all your
energy. None of us knows what else we’ll face on his journey, just that,
whatever it is, we’d be best served facing it together.”

Darius nodded, then went back
to stargazing. After a time, he said, “I miss him.”

“I do, too.”

He looked at her, saw she was
sincere, and smiled. “Luke always could make friends quickly.”

“Must run in the family.”

Darius felt his cheeks flush
and was suddenly glad it was dark. He never was good at taking a compliment. “Thanks,”
he finally managed.

“I’ll leave you alone now. But
if you need to talk, about anything…well, you know where to find me.”

“I appreciate it.” As she
walked away, he realized she meant it, was comforted to know he could speak to
any of his companions had he wanted support or advice. But the wound was still
too fresh, too raw for him to want to deal directly with the pain and guilt he
was fighting. She had mentioned time giving him a better perspective. He could
only hope that would prove true.

*

The next night they camped
within sight of Lake Fostoria, the largest lake in Corterra. They had crested a
hill in the late afternoon and seen it to the northeast, a great sapphire gem
sparkling in the waning light of day. The sight of it gave them a feeling of
progress, and the Long Shadow Mountains were no longer how they measured the
ground they had covered. They knew the next key landmark was the Auerl Forest,
home of the elves.

As much as they enjoyed the
view from the tops of the hills they crossed, the wind picked up and they chose
to shelter that evening in one of the valleys. As was now their habit, they
found a good spot for a small fire, which they tended through most of the
night.

It was around three in the
morning when Darius stirred the fire, adding a few small branches to keep it
going. He was halfway through a two-hour watch, and after he was sure the fire
wouldn’t die on him, he started another slow circuit around their little
campsite. As much as he hated taking his turn in the middle of the night, as
fuzzy as his head got at times, he took the duty seriously, and had never come
close to nodding off, even though they been undisturbed for days, making the
watch a monotonous undertaking. The recent quiet had led them to start posting
only one guard, risky though that was, but in a way that only heightened
Darius’ alertness when on duty. He had seen too much on this journey to be
lulled into lowering his guard, especially when the others were asleep.

The trees
were fairly thick around this night’s camp, and Darius found himself weaving
between the trunks in an irregular pattern as he circled. As he was angling
around an old elm tree, he saw something in the near distance that made him
pause. He froze and tried to focus his eyes.

Something was there that
hadn’t been there before. He guessed it was thirty feet away, suspended maybe
eight feet off the ground. All he could make out was a grouping of faint
glimmers, as if the fading light of their fire reflected off a set of black
rain drops magically held in the air.

Darius squinted, looked again.
He shifted, ever so slightly, hoping he was just seeing some leaves or some
other plant at an angle he hadn’t seen earlier, or perhaps that stirring the
fire had lit something previously hidden by the night. He held fast a few more
heartbeats, then took a quick glance back at the fire. He could get closer
without interposing himself between the fire and whatever it was he was looking
at, which was of some relief. He didn’t want the light of the fire to outline
him and his movements. He took a few tentative steps, moving with all the
stealth he could muster, making sure his feet found quiet ground upon which to
tread.

After his third step the
glimmers moved a few inches to the right—the direction from which he was
approaching, then went
up
at least two feet. So much for the mysterious
objects being glossy leaves swayed by the wind.

Darius froze again, staring,
the shiny spots staring back at him.

Staring.

A hand seemed to grip Darius’
chest and squeeze as he realized what he was looking at: eyes.

It was quick, but not as fast
enough to close the gap before Darius could react. Darius’ sword was already
moving up into a defensive posture as it sprang at him. It reached him in two
great bounds, materializing out of the darkness like a nightmare come to life.

Darius was able to fend off
its first rush with his sword and his forearm. Somewhere in the deep recesses
of his mind, a younger version of himself realized what it was and screamed in
terror, and even the adult version of Darius might have done the same if he had
time to consider rather than just time to react in order to stay alive. He had
always hated spiders, especially fury ones, and the one swiping at him with its
forelegs had a body half as large as Darius, and was covered with white-tipped
hair that made it all the more alien. He hacked at one of the legs, then dodged
behind a tree to gain time.

The advantage was gone in an
instant. If the spider was concerned about Darius’ weapon, it must have thought
the best way to deal with it was to press the attack. If Darius’ life hadn’t
been on the line he might have marveled at its speed as it moved around the
tree. He gave ground, half-stumbled, caught himself. He was certain if he fell
it would be the last thing he would do.

The spider didn’t miss the
stumble. It flexed its legs and sprang upon Darius, hoping to catch him off
balance.

Darius saw what was coming and
as he regained his balance he set his feet and held his sword braced before
him.

The spider was already
committed to its leap. Its own weight and momentum drove the sword into its
body as it came down hard, its legs slapping forward and flailing at Darius
before man and spider both fell to the ground,

For a frozen instant Darius
was peering into that group of black eyes again. It snapped at his face, his
arms pinned between him and the spider keeping it inches away from its target. He
shouted then as he gathered his strength to shove it off, a shout of fear and
anger and power. He managed to lift it enough while turning that it fell off to
his right. The sword slid free, the spider’s dark blood staining it as well as
Darius’ hands, arms, and chest.

Despite its injury, the spider
did not flee once free of the sword. Whether driven by rage, hunger, or some
other base instinct, it attacked again.

Darius was trying to rise so
he could get some leverage behind the next sword stroke, but the spider was
quicker. He again managed to get his forearm up and make the blow he received a
glancing one, with the result begin both combatants rolling to the ground
several feet apart. Each scrambled to gather themselves in order to be able to
strike next.

Suddenly the spider was awash
in a purple haze, its hair standing on end and its body twitching. It stood on
its rear legs, towering over Darius for a moment, then gave two great shudders.
The purple aura vanished, and the spider collapsed, a smoking ruin.

Darius refused to take his
eyes off the fallen creature, except for a quick glance at his approaching
friends. He had not thought to call out to them; once he recognized the danger
the spider was upon him. He had been fortunate that his shout as he hefted the
spider off of himself had woken them, and Adrianna had finished the battle he’d
begun. He probed the spider a few times with his sword, assuring himself that
it was dead.

“You all right?” Silas asked,

“Fine,” Darius replied. He saw
Barlow looking at his chest with growing alarm, causing him to look down
himself. He curled his face in a look of disgust. “It didn’t get me. The
blood’s the spider’s.”

Adrianna cast another spell,
calling an orb of light into existence. She directed it away from them with a
thought, then in a wide circle around the camp. Once the circuit was complete,
she said, “Looks like it was alone, luckily.”

“Ever know them to grow so
big?” Barlow asked Silas.

“I’ve heard stories, but
wasn’t sure I believed them. Now I do. Never seen white fur like that, though. Hopefully
it’s an oddity, and we just took out the only one.”

“Anybody going to try to get
back to sleep?” Adrianna asked with a heavy sigh.

Darius shook his head. “Not
tonight. Not here. You all go ahead if you can. I’ll finish the watch.”

Barlow grumbled. “I’ll join
you. No more sleep for me tonight.”

“Going to be three of us,”
Silas said.

“Four,” Adrianna amended. “Might
as well move on. I can light our way,” she stated, since the moon, just past
new, was only a sliver in the sky. She glanced at Barlow.

“Go ahead,” he said. “I’ve no
interest in stumbling into another one of those spiders.”

They put out their fire,
gathered their things, and set off. As they did so, Darius asked, “Any chance
we can find our way to the shores of Lake Fostoria? I’d sure like to clean up.”

Silas clapped him on the back and
smiled. “We’ll see what we can do.”

*

Praad never doubted he would
be successful in his chase. He had little need for rest, and despite his
appearance and the slow, steady way he moved under most circumstances, when he
wanted to move quickly he covered ground as swiftly as a stallion. So it was
that as the rising sun signaled a new day and he looked down upon Lake Fostoria
that he paused and allowed himself a satisfied smile. There they were, bathing
in the chilly water, the men together and the woman a discreet distance away.

He moved a bit closer, not
near enough to hear them speaking to one another, but close enough to get a
better look at their faces, and to observe their auras. He had expected to see
the faint white glow of many he had dealt with in this world, although a
crimson or black aura, such as Landri’s, would have made things interesting in
its own way. The auras
were
white, but more intense than what he had
expected. He could tell two of the men fashioned themselves servants of the
Holy One, and the others were of similar heart, mind, and soul, whatever their
beliefs might be. The older man also had a sword that made Praad hesitate, if
only for an instant. He suddenly felt he understood what had happened to
Ondrel, the demon Orgoth had sent to slay them and recover the book.