Under Fragile Stone (31 page)

‘Well done, the pair of you,’ Emos said warmly, putting his arms around them. ‘You saved our lives back there.’

‘Uncle Emos,’ Taya puffed. ‘There’s krundengrond
breaking
out east of here … It’s spreading towards the mountains … We’re going to run right into it.’

‘Krundengrond?’ Emos frowned. ‘Here? I don’t think …’

‘It’s here,’ Lorkrin said, firmly. ‘We’ve seen it. That’s what Ludditch has been trying to start. He’s after a “god-heart”, we think he means Orgarth’s heart. He thinks we have it and if he takes it from us, he’s going to let the krundengrond out all over the place.’ 

‘Could a god fit in a nail?’ Taya asked, slowly regaining her wind. ‘We think Rug’s nail might be what they’re looking for. Like it’s the last bit left of Orgarth.’

She explained where the nail had come from.

‘Rug thought it was important too, but he didn’t know why. Do you think it could be … controlling him, or
something
like that?’

Rug stood up in alarm.

‘I’ve been possessed?’ he exclaimed. ‘Is that what’s wrong with me?’

‘Everybody calm down,’ Draegar said. ‘Children, your imaginations are running away with you. Either yours or Ludditch’s anyway. There is no krundengrond here. It doesn’t break out, because nothing can hold it still in the first place …’

‘Will you just
listen
, instead of treating us like babies!’ Lorkrin snapped.

‘Don’t you take that tone with me, lad.’

‘Uncle Emos!’ Taya pleaded. ‘It’s real – we’ve seen it!’

Emos wasn’t listening. He was looking out at the
mountains
, lost in his own thoughts.

A shudder ran through the ground beneath the truck’s wheels. They heard a deep, ripping sound ahead. A tree pulled its tangled branches free from its neighbours at the side of the road and crashed to the ground, falling
diagonally
so that it nearly blocked the way through. Everyone turned to look towards it.

‘It’s an ambush!’ Draegar shouted.

‘No. It’s
not
,’ Lorkrin retorted, rolling his eyes. ‘If you’d just listen …’

Jube swerved around the top of the tree, nearly sliding 
into the ditch at the side of the road as he avoided the
obstacle
. The men all looked warily up into the trees, awaiting the attack they thought must come, but Taya and Lorkrin were watching the ground. The wagon suddenly jolted to a halt, throwing them all off their feet. Jube pressed down on the accelerator, but the vehicle was caught fast. All around them, the road was breaking up. Cullum pulled past them, the heavier equipment truck still caught in the ditch after making it past the tree. There was a point where the side of the trough had collapsed and the Noranian used it to
scramble
up and onto an intact section of road. He stopped and the Noranians looked back, Khassiel already jumping down with a roll of chain to tow the other wagon free.

‘Don’t come any closer!’ Emos shouted to her, then turned to the others. ‘Forget the wagon. Everybody get out!’

‘By the gods,’ Draegar muttered, staring at the erupting road. ‘It’s true.’

Lorkrin beat his tired wings and took off, with Taya
following
a moment later. Draegar picked up Ludditch’s great aunt, grabbed Rug and hauled him over the side. The two of them staggered across the splitting clay to where the
Noranians
were watching in disbelief. Jube was still at the wheel, trying to reverse out of the quagmire. Emos rapped on the small glass window on the back.

‘Jube! Get out of the truck!’

The miner waved his hand at him, then changed into first gear again and tried the accelerator once more. Draegar started across to them, but the ground pulled at his feet and he had to stumble back. The wagon shook and shunted
forwards
and at first it seemed as if it was starting to move, but then the front sank suddenly and something crunched 
against the undercarriage. With a violent shudder, the front wheels and nose of the vehicle were pulled into the ground. Jube clutched the steering wheel in terror.

‘Get out!’ Emos yelled at him.

There was the creak of buckling metal and a jolt went through the chassis. Jube tried to open his door, but the earth was already up to the bottom edge, jamming it shut. The door’s window had a crossbar; only the top half of the glass could be opened, too small a gap for the burly miner. The truck tipped further forward. The ground was already halfway up the windscreen. Emos watched in dread. The back window was tiny, it offered no way out. He swung over the side and pulled frantically at the window’s crossbar. Jube fell back from it and raised his feet. Emos pulled his hand aside and the miner began slamming his heavy boots against the thin bar. It bent, the glass shattering. The krundengrond was nearly to the sill. Emos kicked at it from the other side, trying to bend it down enough for the miner to get through. The earth was over the sill and probing in through the broken glass. The cab’s doors creaked under the pressure. The windscreen cracked by the Reisenick’s rocks burst inwards. Jube screamed and then his cry was cut off. Emos was forced to climb onto the back of the cab. He looked down through the tiny window, but all he saw was writhing earth, pressed against the glass. He beat his fist against the solid wood panelling.

The krundengrond was coming up over the cab, the wagon tipping further and further over. Emos looked urgently around. The vehicle was surrounded on all sides. He
clambered
up the flatbed and perched on the tailgate. Holding up his hands, he cast his eyes around above him … and there 
they were. Taya and Lorkrin swooped down, Taya grabbing his hands and Lorkrin catching his feet, the two of them
lifting
him from the sinking wagon and carrying him to safety.

They landed heavily at the side of the equipment wagon. It was still on a solid stretch of road, but the fringe of the
krundengrond
was edging steadily closer. The tree that had blocked the road was already being eaten up. On the far side, the
Reisenicks
watched in fear and amazement. All except Ludditch. He was wearing an expression of satisfaction.

‘Let’s get out of here,’ Draegar said. ‘Jube’s gone. There’s nothing we can do for him now. We need to make it up into the mountains before we all follow him. At least that mess’ll get Ludditch off our backs for a while.’

Lorkrin and Taya watching in grieving silence as the ground swallowed the remains of the wagon, the sound of rending metal and splintering wood filling their ears. And then there was only the grating rumble of the churning earth itself, its edges creeping outwards with slow, unrelenting force. The others climbed aboard the equipment wagon, Cullum taking the wheel once more.

‘Taya, Lorkrin!’ Emos called. ‘We have to go.’

They turned at the sound of their uncle’s voice and jumped up onto the back of the truck. Leaving the Reisenicks stranded on the far side of the krundengrond, the wagon drove off, making for the relative safety of the thin, rocky soil of the mountains.

Ludditch gazed at the krundengrond like a man in rapture.

‘Look at that,’ he choked. ‘Harsq? Harsq!’

‘I’m here.’ 

The chieftain looked round at him.

‘Didn’t I tell yuh? It’s started now,’ he said to the exorcist. ‘And all we have to do to make sure it spreads right around the territory is get our hands on those outsiders. Damn it, boy. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’

‘How do we catch them now?’ Harsq asked. ‘Your dream come true is blocking the road before us, and even if we get past, they still have your aunt.’

Ludditch waved his hand dismissively.

‘There’s other roads, and we’ve men all along the trail. And as for Great Aunt Eldrith, she’s a tough old bird. She’ll come through this all right.’

Harsq could not take his eyes off the krundengrond. The myths had been true. But how could they be true? What could have held the earth still all this time? His gaze was fixed on the violently tossing ground. He was certain that it was looking back at him. His faith was shaken by what he saw, and he did not know what it meant for his promise to rid Ludditch of the god of Absaleth. But there was no god, he reasoned. After all, his exorcism had driven the spirit of Absaleth out. It had been a potent ceremony, but had he really unseated a god? Was he really that powerful?

The priest looked down at his hands, and then back at his generator truck. Perhaps it had nothing to do with the spirit of Absaleth. Perhaps the krundengrond had not been there before. Perhaps he had created it, an accident caused by his new, unfettered state of mind. He had always known his ceremonies had massive effects on the land. Could it be that, empowered by Brask’s might, he had unwittingly infused this earth with
life
?

A fevered light came into his eyes. If he had given it life, 
then he could control it. He stared out across what had once been the section of roadway in front of them. Kneeling and putting his hands on the ground in front of him, he felt the krundengrond’s vibrations through the clay. And he knew that it felt him too.

‘Harsq!’ Ludditch shouted.

The priest looked up. Everybody else was already back aboard the vehicles. They were waiting for him.

‘Stop prayin’ and get your backside up on your wagon,’ Ludditch barked at him. ‘We got to take a detour, but we’ll be back on their tails faster’n a skunkrin up a drainpipe. Get aboard, now.’

Harsq took one last longing look at his creation and climbed back into the cab of the generator wagon. There would be plenty of time yet for them to get to know each other.

18
R
UG'S
H
ANDS

Taya and Lorkrin sat quietly on a crate with their backs against the wall of the cab, watching the road behind them. Everybody had lapsed into silence after their escape. Emos was staring into the distance, deep in thought.

‘I'm sorry, children,' Draegar said at last. ‘I'm sorry I didn't believe you. Perhaps if I had, we might have been able to …'

‘Ludditch knew,' Emos cut in abruptly. ‘He came here himself and he had his whole family with him. He's here
personally
to hunt us, and he's brought Harsq with him.'

‘He thinks we have what's left of Orgarth,' Lorkrin said. ‘Rug has this nail that we got out of Draegar's back after that second exorcism – we were thinking it might be that.
Ludditch
figures if he gets rid of Orgarth, the krundengrond keeps growing and when it's finished, it'll cut off the Reisenick land from everywhere else. What I don't get is where the stuff came from.'

‘It's always been here,' Emos said softly. ‘It's an old, old legend and I didn't believe it myself. I have only heard of it once, in connection with the stories of the Tuderem, the alchemists who once lived here. Thousands of years ago, the land around Absaleth is said to have been a swathe of
krundengrond
, stretching over half of what is now the Myunan Territories, and covering the flat country southeast of Absaleth as far as Sestina. Which coincidentally, would form 
an impenetrable boundary around the south and east of the Reisenicks' territory. It tormented Orgarth, the spirit of Absaleth, constantly eroding the iron and stone that was his body. He was being eaten away, painfully slowly.

‘Then the Tuderem came from over the mountains. They had been driven from their homeland by the Barians, whose empire stretched from the esh in the east, to the great sea in the west. Their rule was barbaric and the Tuderem had
suffered
much at their hands.

‘Now the Tuderem had nowhere else to go. They had no home. So they resolved to make one. They prayed to Orgarth and he answered. Their skills in the science of alchemy would provide both with what they needed. They knew of Orgarth's power over iron – it is the source of his essence and he can work his will on it. For nearly a century, the Tuderem worked on the krundengrond. They changed the elements of its earth, lacing it with iron, and as the
concentration
of iron rose, Orgarth was able to exercise his power over it and still the earth's constant raging.
Eventually
, the entire stretch of land was tamed, though they left enough on their borders to keep the Barians at bay.

‘And it was rich, fertile land, for it had never been farmed; nothing had ever been able to grow on it before. The
Tuderem
made a new life for themselves, and Orgarth was saved from the torments of the krundengrond. After scores of years had passed, the Barians disappeared from the neighbouring lands and the Tuderem began to feel safe once more. With their numbers growing as they thrived in their new home, they gradually did away with the last of the krundengrond to give themselves more land. It was a fatal mistake.

‘The Barians did come back, more powerful and savage 
then ever and they laid waste to the new land. Rather than serve these cruel masters, it is said that the Tuderem sought refuge in the caves beneath Absaleth. They sealed
themselves
in, not knowing when they would ever be able to return to the outside world.

‘No one has heard of them since, but Caftelous, the old man who lived up here, claimed that he had found markings in the tunnels that told their story. He showed me some once, deep in the caves. He learned much of his alchemy from studying these markings. But even he never mentioned krundengrond.'

‘But what made you keep the nail?' Taya asked Rug. ‘How did you know it was so important?'

‘We still don't know if it is,' Emos pointed out.

‘It makes sense to me,' Lorkrin persisted. ‘Harsq drove Orgarth out of the mountain. Orgarth lost control over the krundengrond. Ludditch thinks Orgarth is on his way back to the mountain, or at least his last remaining nail has hitched a ride with Rug …'

‘I don't feel possessed,' Rug put in. ‘I'm sure I'd know, somehow.'

‘… and Ludditch wants to stop him, so that he can keep his krundengrond,' Lorkrin concluded. ‘Sounds simple to me.'

‘But Orgarth was born of iron and stone,' Emos explained. ‘He would have no power over flesh and blood, but he could have found purchase in metal. And Harsq knew it too. He must have sensed the spirit, and followed it to the forest. But he needed the Reisenicks' help to find it. And now he's sent them after us. So, why is he still searching, after two exorcisms? And what's it got to do with you?' 

He turned to look over at Rug. The gangly figure lifted his head. Thoughts were racing through his mind. Flashes,
fragments
of what could be memories were tantalisingly close and yet just beyond reach. Emos's story was triggering all kinds of images in his head.

‘I don't know,' he answered, looking over at the Myunan. ‘But I am connected to this, somehow. I …'

He stopped, putting his hand to his pocket. He
unbuttoned
the flap and took out his nail.

‘The Reisenicks are trying to kill us because of a nail?' Khassiel snorted.

Emos took it and held it up. He smelled the metal, and rubbed it between his fingers.

‘It got stuck in your back before the ceremony?' he asked the Parsinor.

‘If that's where it came from, then yes,' Draegar replied.

‘So Orgarth could fit into that?' Lorkrin smiled uncertainly. ‘Little fella, is he?'

‘Spirit has no size,' Emos told them. ‘Orgarth could live as a particle of rust if he escaped Harsq's ritual. Rug, why did you hold onto this?'

‘I just felt it was important to me,' the thin man shrugged. ‘I don't know why.'

Emos squatted down in front of him.

‘We need to know who you are. Take off the scarf.'

‘No,' Rug shook his head fearfully. ‘I can't. I just can't.'

‘Jube is dead,' Emos said sternly. ‘We could still follow him, and that would mean those in the caves would die too. I don't give a damn if you're shy about how you look. Take off the scarf.'

‘No!' Rug retorted firmly. 

Emos suddenly grabbed his hands and dug his fingers into the musty fabric of Rug's gloves. He pulled hard, before the other man had time to react, and yanked the material away. It tangled on something at first, then the top pair of gloves came away cleanly, the second pair tore. There was even a third pair underneath. Rug clutched his hands protectively to his chest, but Draegar stepped behind him and grabbed his wrists, forcing them out so that Emos could get a grip on the backs of the last pair of gloves.

‘By the gods, he's strong!' the Parsinor grunted.

‘Let me go!' Rug screamed. ‘Leave me alone!'

His fingers stayed clenched tightly closed. Emos ripped the wool open, dragging the last shreds of material off Rug's exposed hands. But these were like no hands anyone had ever seen. Taya and Lorkrin scrambled closer for a better look, even Khassiel's cynical expression disappeared in utter amazement. Rug let out a long wail of horror.

The palms were the rusty blades of trowels, the fingers pieces of corroded chain and steel cable. Rusty wire wound around and through all of this like veins, sinews and ligaments in a macabre, metal imitation of human hands. They curled into fists and opened again as Rug screamed once more.

‘This can't be me!' he sobbed. ‘What's happened to me? What's happened to my body?'

‘You were driven from your true body,' Emos told him, gazing into his face. ‘So you made another. It's an honour to meet you, Orgarth.'

Nayalla clutched her chest as her husband adjusted his grip under her legs. Her wounds had been dressed with 
makeshift bandages torn from the miners' shirts. Myunans could will their flesh to stop bleeding and knit their skin together when the injury was not too grievous, but she was too weak from hunger and lack of rest to go far. Mirkrin was carrying her on his back now. She draped her arm over his shoulder again and rested the side of her head against the back of his, closing her eyes.

‘We're going away from the door,' she muttered.

‘The creature's back that way,' he replied. ‘We can't go back.'

‘Ah, we had it beaten.'

‘You're nothing if not positive. I'll give you that.'

Noogan trudged warily ahead, the torch stretched ahead of him as far as he could hold it. The Seneschal were still up there somewhere, but facing them was marginally less
frightening
than tackling the lantern beast again. Behind them, Paternasse guarded the rear. Soon, the passageway became too low for them to walk upright and Mirkrin put Nayalla down and unrolled his tools. With slow, tired movements, he shaped himself into a more suitable form, shortening his legs and lengthening his body, making it wider and flatter too, until he resembled a stretcher with legs. Nayalla laughed weakly, but laid herself gratefully on his back. The group carried on up the tunnel.

‘Let's stop here and have a think,' Paternasse said, finally.

He and Noogan were almost on their hands and knees. It was incredibly tiring. The two miners sat down and Mirkrin just settled where he was, with his wife still on his back. The steadily shrinking space was fraying his nerves and the temptation to close his eyes and back down the tunnel was growing ever stronger. 

‘The little buggers probably think we're dead,' the old man reasoned. ‘But if we keep going this way, we're bound to run into them again. The thing with the lamp is hurt. It might be running scared, or it might have it in for us. We don't know. But we know it'll be more wary of us now. That doorway is the best chance we've had of getting out of here. I say we wait for a bit to see if there's any more sign of the beast and then try and get back to the door.'

‘I'm up for it,' Nayalla mumbled.

‘I don't know,' Noogan shook his head. ‘It almost had us that time. I think we've just ticked it off. If we run into it again, it'll make mincemeat of us.'

They all looked at Mirkrin. He was quiet for a while. He did want to go back, as much to escape this shrinking tunnel as to reach the doorway again. But he thought of his wife, already injured and unable to fight and he remembered the ferocity of the animal.

‘Who knows where this passage goes?' Paternasse said. ‘It might be taking us right back to that monster anyway! And that beast can't be the only one down here. There must be others if the thing's to breed. We should take our chances back at the door. What choice have we got?'

Mirkrin sighed. The old man was right. There was no choice.

‘All right,' he nodded.

He felt a trembling beneath his hands and looked down. The vibrations grew and in moments the whole passage was shaking violently. Cracks appeared, snaking their way down from the ceiling and up from the floor. Mirkrin rolled Nayalla onto the ground and threw himself on top of her, trying to shield her with his body. The two miners covered their 
heads and screamed. Pieces of stone fell from the ceiling and slabs split away from the walls, collapsing to the floor. Dust showered down over them, dousing the torches and
plunging
them into darkness. Around them, they heard the sound of breaking stone and then a deafening crash brought their hopes of escape to an end.

As the earth tremor shuddered up through the wagon's
chassis
, they all anxiously watched the ground ahead. Rug wrapped his arms around his body and groaned. His hands were gloved once more and he had not said a word since Emos had shown him his true nature. He had fiercely denied Emos's claim of who and what he was and would not listen to anything further. Now he curled up and cried out in pain.

‘What's wrong, Rug?' Taya asked softly.

‘Something hurts,' he moaned.

‘Where, can I have a look?'

‘It's not in any place,' he muttered. ‘I just hurt all over. It started yesterday, I think. But it's getting worse.'

Emos crouched beside him.

‘The problem's not here,' the Myunan told him. ‘It's in your true body.'

He pointed towards Absaleth, its peak visible over the ridge of mountains that lay to the southwest.

‘Think about it,' he said. ‘The krundengrond's been held in your grip for thousands of years. Now all that pressure is being released all around you in a matter of days. Imagine what that must be doing to the land. And to the mountain. We can get you back there, but I have no idea how to restore your spirit. That's something you have to do yourself.'