The Hanging Mountains (41 page)

‘What lies in that direction?’ Marmion asked Lidia Delfine, pointing with his one hand along the uphill path.

‘A pass leading to the deeper ranges,’ she said. ‘There are mining villages up there. We trade with them for metal.’

‘Is that all?’

‘I have no reason to lie.’

‘It’s going to be hard for them to travel quickly, if Kail is injured,’ Marmion thought aloud, ignoring her dig at him. ‘They can’t have gone far.’

‘What does it matter if they
do
go far?’ said Skender, feeling a flash of irritation at the man’s doggedness. ‘We have work to do right here. It’s personal now. The Swarm attacked Milang while we were out hunting for them. Eitzen is dead. We can’t take on every problem at once. If we don’t finish what we started, we’ll have the Swarm breathing down our necks every step we take into the bloody mountains.’

Marmion looked down at the ground. The mood of the group became quiet at the reminder of their recent losses. Skender couldn’t close his eyes without seeing flashes of red. Kelloman’s litter was a sombre and very heavy presence behind them.

‘I hear you, Skender Van Haasteren,’ Marmion said. ‘I hear you, and I know you are right. Yet I would chase this thing to the end of the world if I thought it would divert what’s coming. A few lives will make no difference.’

‘A few lives?’ spat Lidia Delfine. ‘The end of the world? You will speak plainly with us, warden, or I’ll send you back to your Alcaide in six pieces.’

Marmion’s balding head bobbed in a nod. ‘I’ll tell you all, if we keep moving while I do so. I’m anxious to deal with these wraiths so my real quest can resume. We have been held up too long already.’

The party of foresters and sundry other people resumed their march for Milang, leaving the brief resting place of Kail and the Homunculus behind. Wondering at this unexpected turn of events, Skender attempted to raise Sal through the Change, but he received no response. That gave him even more reason to worry, and he wished he hadn’t tried.

* * * *

The path snaked at a constant height along the rippling side of the mountain range, so they walked with tree trunks crowding on their left and the canopy sloping steeply downward to their right. Kelloman and Chu brought up the rear of the column — the mage because he constantly dragged his heels, and Chu because she had been assigned there by Heuve. She didn’t look happy about it, either. In the rush to break camp, there had been no time for her and Skender to have the talk that she had promised. Skender, walking a little ahead of them and listening in to their conversation without trying to make it too obvious, could feel the tension boiling inside her. He wasn’t surprised at all when she tried to pick a fight.

‘Is this your pet?’ she innocently asked the mage, stroking the ears of the bilby perched on her shoulder.

‘Certainly not. The filthy thing is covered with fleas.’

‘It seems perfectly healthy to me. What about the girl?’

‘Which girl? What about her?’

‘The girl whose body you’re inhabiting, of course.’

‘There’s nothing to know.’

‘Who was she? What happened to her? Why was she given to you?’

‘That is of no relevance to me. Why would I care?’

‘It just seems odd to me, that’s all — being in someone else’s body. I can’t imagine what it must be like.’

‘Uncomfortable, if you must know.’

‘Would you prefer to be in a man’s body?’

‘Bee’s whiskers, girl, you ask the most impertinent questions!’

‘That’s the best way to learn. Or so I’m told.’

Kelloman blustered for a moment, then answered her question. ‘Of course I’d prefer a man’s body. But this is what I was given. I’ve tried to change it, and they won’t let me. It’s a concerted campaign, you know — a deliberate attempt to break my will. My so-called friends back home punish me by sending me here. The people here do their utmost to make me go home. Well, I won’t give in to either of them. Do you hear me? I won’t!’

‘The whole forest can probably hear you.’

‘And who are you to question me? Outcast and bloodletter —’

‘Hey — I have nothing to do with the yadachi, and it’s not my fault my family left the forest. I wasn’t even born when that happened.’

‘And it’s not
my
fault this poor child ate moonflower that hadn’t been cured properly and lost her mind as a result!’

‘So you
do
know.’

‘Of course. I’m not a complete ass. She did it on a dare to impress some boy. But that doesn’t change anything. Her stupidity has become my prison.’

‘How is it your prison, really? She’s young and healthy.’

‘Well, there’s the family to think of, and the people she knew. I’m obviously keen to spare them further distress — but how can I do that? It’s impossible to avoid all of them all of the time.’

‘What about you? Does it cause
you
distress?’

Kelloman said nothing for a long while, and that silence was more eloquent than anything the mage could ever have said.

Some of the tension left Chu, then. ‘Do you know what I think?’ she prompted.

‘No, and I’m not entirely certain I care to hear it.’

‘I think this little fellow was her pet.’

‘Preposterous. The girl’s mind is dead.’

‘But her body is still alive. That’s what the bilby recognises. No matter how much you might care to ignore it, part of her is still here, and you should honour it.’

A strange thing happened then that brought the entire party to a halt. With an explosive release of colour and noise, every bird in every tree surrounding them took to the air and flew off into the fog. Birds from further afield joined the throng, flying overhead with a deafening clapping of wings.

Skender stood stock still, gaping up at the riotous mayhem. From the front of the column, he heard Marmion exclaim, ‘What the Goddess ...?’

Then the ground kicked beneath them and Skender fell to his knees. The trees shook as though in a heavy wind. Trunks swayed; dead branches fell. Skender dived forward and clutched the treacherous Earth, seeking stability it didn’t provide.

The tremor lasted a dozen breaths but felt like a lifetime. Even as the deep rumble eased, the danger didn’t pass. Over cries of relief came a new sound, this time from above: a growing roar that could only be one thing.

‘Avalanche!’ cried Lidia Delfine, waving people to her. What good
that
would do, Skender couldn’t imagine, but he went along with them on shaky legs. He found himself pressed between Chu, Kelloman and a large man whose eyes were slitted, almost closed. The roar became louder but he could see nothing through the fog. It sounded like half the mountain was coming down on them.

Skender felt the ground kick again — then the roaring was all around them. The air swirled as though stirred by a giant hand. Chu’s mouth was open but he couldn’t hear her screaming, the noise was so loud.

Incredibly, it passed. Dust rolled over them, thick and cloying in the humid air. He coughed and heard others doing likewise as his hearing returned. The day turned yellow and dark.

‘Is everyone all right?’ Heuve and Lidia Delfine moved through the party one at a time, checking to make sure no one had been hurt. Skender and Chu nodded dumbly when their turn came, not realising until then just how tightly they were clinging to each other. They stepped apart, avoiding each other’s gaze.

‘That was close,’ said Banner. Her hair and face were coated with dust. ‘Does that happen here often?’

‘The occasional tremor, yes,’ said Lidia Delfine, ‘but rarely like this. The last one was just before the flood.’

Kelloman interrupted them. ‘That was no ordinary quake.’

All eyes turned to him. ‘What do you mean?’ asked Marmion.

‘Earthquakes are natural occurrences. The Earth flexes, changes — just like us, only on a much longer timescale. Sometimes it shrugs to make itself sit more comfortably, to relieve a growing tension, or in response to pressure elsewhere.’

‘Yes, yes. But you’re saying this wasn’t like that?’

‘It didn’t feel so to me.’ Kelloman bristled at being rushed. ‘There was no warning, no natural trigger. Whatever caused this earthquake, it wasn’t the Earth.’

Lidia Delfine exchanged a quick glance with Heuve. ‘Thank you, Stone Mage Kelloman,’ she said. ‘We’ll talk about this more when we return to Milang. Until then, checking that the path is still passable is the most important thing.’

She called out instructions and the tight huddle began to break up. Chu stepped in close to Kelloman to whisper, ‘Nice one. What did you go and mention that for?’

‘Why wouldn’t I?’

‘Because this lot’s already half-expecting another flood, another village to be wiped out. And now you’ve suggested that the Panic might be behind it.’

‘I didn’t say that. I just said it wasn’t natural.’

‘Which means something apart from nature is behind it. And that means someone. Who else do they have to point their fingers at apart from the Panic?’

‘The wraiths, the golem —’

‘And us, sure. There are lots of possibilities. But I think their traditional enemies will be assumed guilty first, don’t you?’

Kelloman looked somewhat abashed, but still irritated. ‘These people — I mean,
really
—’

‘We’re no different,’ said Marmion. ‘Let’s not be guilty of the same assumptions they make, eh?’

A series of shouts and whistles saw the column moving again. Marmion hurried off into the mist, heading for the lead. Word spread back that the path was intact and that all should make the utmost haste or be left behind. Kelloman scowled but stepped up the pace.

Chu came to walk with Skender, but didn’t make any overtures to talk. Skender honoured that silence. Just moments ago he had been certain they were both about to die. It wasn’t the first time he had felt that way around her, and he was certain the feeling was mutual. Words couldn’t do it justice.

Silence was enough, for now.

A trio of blasts sent the birds — only recently returned after the shock of the quake — scattering up into the air again. Three more came soon after, prompting Lidia Delfine to split the party in two. She and the fastest runners would go ahead while the rest followed on. Heuve chose Chu to be one of the runners, but not Skender.

‘Don’t worry,’ she said, giving him the bilby. ‘I’m sure it’s nothing personal. You’ve just got stumpy legs.’

‘I don’t see why you’re so keen to go running anywhere. It sounds like hard work to me.’

‘Hey, yeah.’ Her face fell. ‘Maybe it
is
personal. That son of a bitch ...’

She went off to argue with Heuve, and didn’t return. Lidia Delfine and her honour guard disappeared into the mist with a rattling of armour and rapid tramping of feet.

Marmion had stayed behind in the slower-moving group along with Skender, Banner and Kelloman. Four guards escorted them.

‘Any idea what’s going on?’ Skender asked Marmion.

‘Another messenger arrived from Milang. I didn’t catch all of it, but he said something about the Panic being on the move.’

‘That could mean anything.’

‘It could, yes, but it will most likely be taken one way. After the message Seneschal Schuet brought, and rising tensions between the two parties ...’ Marmion looked grim. ‘I fear this will not end well.’

They passed within sight of a moai, perched above the path on a natural shelf where it might have sat for centuries for all Skender could tell. It had tilted to its right, giving it a slightly dangerous air. Its wide eyes and shadowed brow revealed nothing of its inner thoughts. The ghostly moan issuing from its wide mouth was equally uninformative.

‘Why do they do that?’ asked Banner, looking pained at the sound.

‘We don’t know,’ said one of their escorts. ‘They don’t normally. It started three weeks ago, out of nowhere.’

‘Is it getting worse?’

‘Much worse today.’

Skender performed a quick mental calculation. ‘Three weeks is about the time that Highson Sparre made the Homunculus.’

Marmion nodded. ‘I think they’re afraid.’

Skender looked up at the strange face peering out from the undergrowth.
Afraid?
he wondered. ‘Of what?’

The warden shrugged. ‘Perhaps nothing more than another flood. The first one must have swept a few of them away down the Divide, maybe smashed them to pieces. They’re not really capable of running away, no matter how much warning the Angel gives.’

Skender thought of the man’kin he had met in Laure and the Divide repeating
‘Angel says run’
and the many hundreds of them who had run to Laure and taken shelter behind the city’s charmed wall. He shuddered to think of being trapped in the face of that terrible deluge, able to do nothing but watch it bearing down and sweeping him away. He had come quite close enough to that as it was.

‘There have been reports,’ their escort said, ‘of moai being stolen by other man’kin. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?’

Before Skender could hazard a guess, a shadow passed over the path. The guards immediately pulled them off the path and under the cover of the trees, practically dragging Kelloman off his feet.