A World Without Heroes (63 page)

As they approached, the gate in the wall protecting the ferry opened. Ferrin and Jason trotted out, Jason squeezing his mount with his knees, trying not to be jounced too much by the jerky gait. The gate closed behind them.

Jason glanced over at the gong. Four big guards flanked it, two under the roof on the platform, two on the steps with hoods up against the deluge.

Ferrin increased the pace, and Jason followed. Once they left the ferry town behind, the night became almost impenetrably black. Only the muted glow of an unseen moon provided luminance.

“Stay close,” Ferrin called back. “I know this country well. Even with the weather we’ll reach our destination in a couple of hours.”

Eventually the rain relented. They followed a narrow lane beneath the cover of trees. Water dripping from overhanging leaves made the rain seem to continue for some time.

A group of men stepped out into the path, barring the way, one of them lighting the scene by unhooding a lantern. Ferrin reined in his horse.

“Who goes there?” inquired the lantern bearer.

“Ferrin the displacer and an unnamed conscriptor, on urgent duty.” He held up a token.

The soldiers cleared out of the path.

At length Ferrin left the lane. The horses squelched across a sodden field as the rain began to fall again in large drops. They pressed through damp undergrowth to pass over the shoulder of a ridge, then followed a rain-swollen stream in the dale beyond.

Ferrin drew up his horse and dismounted near a group of mossy boulders beside a low bluff. Jason did likewise. They tethered the horses, and Ferrin grabbed a bundle from the back of his saddle, leading the way between the largest boulder and the steepest portion of the bluff to the hidden mouth of a cave.

Ferrin paused just inside the opening to ignite a small oil lamp. Holding the lamp aloft, he led Jason deeper into the cave. They climbed upward for a time and then had to wriggle into a horizontal cleft on their bellies and slither forward for about thirty feet. After that the way widened again, descending until they came to a roomy grotto where long stalactites hung over a placid pool of water.

“Come look,” Ferrin said, approaching the brink of the pool.

Jason came up to the edge. The water was remarkably clear.
By the light of the lamp he could see a long way down, but the bottom was not in sight. “Deep,” he said.

Ferrin nodded. “This is a gateway. You need to hold a heavy stone so you sink fast. Once you reach a certain depth you will pass through into the Beyond. The portal only works in one direction. You won’t be coming back.”

Jason dipped a finger into the water, sending concentric ripples across the glassy surface. “It’s frigid.”

“Sorry, but this is the only way I know to send you home. And you have to go home. Maldor will not rest until you’re recaptured.”

“Will they link you to me?”

“Probably. I went into the dungeon using one of my false identities, but I expect to be discovered. When they find me out, I must be able to claim I rescued you to mercifully dispatch you and spare you the agony of the tormentors. I will claim to have dumped your corpse in the sludge pits. When I make that assertion, I need to be certain the lie will never be detected.”

Jason glanced at the deep water. “That isn’t what you’re doing, is it? Tricking me into killing myself?”

“No,” Ferrin said gravely. “I know it requires trust, because you will have to sink to a depth beyond the point of no return. But this truly is a portal to the Beyond. One of the last reliable passages from our world to yours. A closely guarded secret. If Maldor knew I was aware of it, I would probably be killed. Jump in holding a heavy stone. You will not return to the surface. But neither will you die.”

Jason clenched his fists. “I learned something very important from Maldor.”

“What?” Ferrin asked, clearly eager to uncover a new secret.

“The Word is a hoax.”

Ferrin stared. “What do you mean?”

“He invented the Key Word as a decoy for his enemies. The Word we learned was real, but it had power to kill a different wizard, not Maldor.”

Ferrin closed his eyes and tilted his head back. He rubbed his forehead. When he spoke, he seemed to be thinking aloud. “That makes perfect sense, but the possibility never entered my mind. The very existence of the Word is a zealously protected secret. Few who serve Maldor have even heard rumor of it. I always thought Maldor was flirting with disaster by not vigorously attempting to remove those who guard the syllables—at least one of them. I assumed they must be protected by some unnamed magic. Now it makes sense.”

Ferrin opened his eyes. “How did you uncover such a secret?” There was urgency in his manner.

“I got the whole Word. It didn’t work, and Maldor later explained it was a hoax, when he tried to convince me to join him.”

“You got the entire Word?” Ferrin exclaimed in flustered admiration. “Well done! I heard you called out something strange when you were brought before the emperor. I assumed it was a guess using whatever syllables you had accumulated. So you had the complete Word, and it failed; then you rejected an opportunity to join Maldor, even though the only alternative was endless torture?”

Jason nodded.

Ferrin plopped down on a rock. “That is integrity,” he muttered to himself. He looked up at Jason. “I’ve gotten myself into much more serious trouble than I anticipated.”

“Why?”

“You have information that could spoil one of Maldor’s most
elaborate and secretive intrigues. I mistook you for a prisoner who had failed to obtain the Word. This alters everything. If Maldor suspects I know what you just told me, I’m finished.” Ferrin rubbed his throat. “Not only that, when he learns I instrumented your escape, knowing what you know, I’m finished.”

“So join me. Switch sides. We can escape together, take this information to Galloran. We have to stop everyone from focusing their attention on this wild goose chase.”

“No, no, no.” Ferrin wagged a finger. “Abide by your promise. You go home. My latest mission will take me far away for a time. I will keep an ear to the ground. I may not be implicated. If I am, I’ll have to drop off the map.”

“They’ll piece it together.”

Ferrin arched an eyebrow. “I can’t argue. I was spotted leaving with an unnamed conscriptor near the time of your escape. The identity I used when signing the register is one I have employed before. I kept my face hidden in the dungeon, but that won’t be enough, not with how hard Maldor will be looking.”

“Did the conscriptor know you?” Jason asked. “The one you placed in the sarcophagus?”

“He did not. That was the main reason I used him. He thought he was coming to observe while I extracted information from you. I kept my face obscured and gave him the same name I signed to the register. Still, he knows enough that when they put together the pieces, I’ll be implicated.”

“You wouldn’t have rescued me if you knew the whole story,” Jason said.

Ferrin sighed. “Probably not. I neglected to fully investigate those details. I simply couldn’t imagine you had completed the Word. Still, all the more reason I need to be able to claim I killed you, so Maldor can believe your secret perished with you. I will
behave as though you told me nothing. I have kept secrets from Maldor before. Nothing this crucial, but I might be able to do it. Don’t worry about me. One way or another I’ll take care of myself. All you need do now is return home. Isn’t that what you want most?”

Jason bit his lip. He imagined how relieved his friends and family would be to see him. He considered some of the conveniences of modern life he had once taken for granted—grocery stores, refrigerators, hot showers, air conditioning, toilets. “It was. But this information is so vital. Everyone chasing the Word is wasting their time. And I’d be abandoning Rachel. Maldor is a bad man, who rewards bad people. Would you honestly regret it if someone defeated him?”

“No, assuming someone worse didn’t take his place. But he will not fall. The Word was his only weakness, and it isn’t real. This is not open to debate. If Maldor finds I’ve set you free, we’ll both be dead sooner than you can imagine. You must leave this world. I’m protecting both of us. We should hurry and find a suitable rock.”

Jason hesitated. “Okay.”

They began searching around the perimeter of the pool, looking for a good stone to serve as a weight. Jason tried to pick up a large round one, but it was too heavy. When he turned and looked at Ferrin, he saw the displacer lifting a rock at the edge of the water, his back toward him.

“How’s that one?” Jason asked.

“Not bad. I brought you a change of—”

Jason shoved Ferrin in the back, sending him into the water, and then sprinted toward the mouth of the cave. He fell flat and began scooting through the low cleft, heedless of scratching and bumping himself. As he came out the far side, Ferrin was entering
the crack, dripping wet, bearing the lamp. “Wait!” he called. “You stop and I’ll stop!”

Jason hesitated, looking back through the low gap at the soaked displacer thirty feet away.

“What are you doing?” Ferrin asked calmly.

“I have friends who need the information I know. I can’t just abandon Rachel. She’ll think I failed, and try to use the Word. She’ll end up in the dungeon.”

“You swore you would return to the Beyond if I freed you.”

“Let me see, have you ever lied to me? I think now we’re even.”

“I’ll catch you before you reach the horses.”

“No you won’t.”

“If I fail, you will get picked up by a patrol. Or get apprehended once you are found missing and the manhunt begins. You’ll end up back in the dungeon.”

“I might. You might too.”

Ferrin shook his head in frustration. “At this point Maldor might even send a torivor after you. Have you heard of them? More commonly called lurkers?”

“I’ve heard the name.”

“You don’t want to meet one. Trust me. Just go home. This may be your only chance. Don’t pass it up. Saving you probably cost me my life. Don’t you want to go home?”

“Believe me, I really do. But not as much as I want to help my friends. Too many good people have wasted their lives chasing a lie. Now I know a way home. I can use it later.”

“You’ll be dead by sunrise.”

“I’ve heard that one before.”

Ferrin sighed. “Fine, you win. If you’re adamant about staying here, let me come with you. I can guide us to safety.”

“Sorry, Ferrin, I can’t trust you. A lie twice believed is self-deceived.
You’d never believe who taught me that one. If you really want to help me, catch up with me later, at a time when I can trust your sincerity. I would love to have you on our side.”

“I will catch you,” Ferrin promised, voice grave.

“Don’t chase me,” Jason said, picking up a stone. “Do you have any idea how much damage I could do to you while you squirm through there? Ask Duke Conrad.”

Ferrin paused, frowning. Then he blew out the lamp. Jason could see nothing. He heard Ferrin scrambling, and blindly winged the stone sidearm into the crevice. He turned and hurried toward the mouth of the cave, hands outstretched. Several times he stumbled. Three times he fell hard, only to jump back up and blunder onward.

He could hear Ferrin fumbling along behind him, gaining ground.

Jason burst from the mouth of the cave in a wild sprint. Rain fell in a torrent. He could scarcely see. Splashing through puddles and slipping in mud, he wound through the boulders toward where the horses stood tethered.

A body slammed into him from behind, tackling him with a muddy splash. Jason tried to squirm free. His helmet was jerked off, and as he tried to rise, a sharp blow to the back of his skull knocked him forward, robbing him of consciousness.

Rachel waited beneath a rocky outcrop, wondering whether Tark would return. Lightning blazed across the sky, and for a flickering instant fir trees strobed into view. Thunder boomed loud and close.

She smoothed her hand along the neck of her horse. It was not the same horse she had ridden while escaping Harthenham, nor was it the mount she had used after that. She had traveled on foot, in wagon, by boat, and on several different horses as she and
Tark led their pursuers on an epic chase. Time and again, when it seemed they had finally gotten away, a new patrol would start after them.