Gifted Avenger

  As they entered the trees, Sallis paused. "Why should I trust you?"

  Gamal laughed. "Have you got any better ideas? At least with me you have a chance of catching up with the man who murdered your girlfriend's family."

  "Do you know the other man, the one interested in me?"

  Gamal nodded. "You don't want to be messing about with him. Sorcerers are rarely pleasant people, once they become adepts. And this one is definitely skilled."

  Gamal abruptly turned aside to where a couple of trees had fallen against a third, forming a sort of cave. Three horses were within, and Glyder snorted a greeting as he saw Sallis.

  Sallis sheathed his sword and ensured all his belongings were still in place, noticing Gamal's face tighten in anger as he did so. Not caring what the newcomer thought of this insult, Sallis led Glyder back into the sunshine.

  "The day's drawing on," he said. "If you're going to lead me to this killer, I'm ready when you are."

  Gamal laughed. "They did say you were determined."

  "What's his name and where does he live?" asked Sallis.

  "He's known simply as Rannet," replied Gamal. "And he lives just over the mountains, in Selim."

  "And this Rannet is going there now?"

  "If not now, then eventually, yes. I'm afraid I do not share this skill of following where someone has already been, but the man has got to return there sooner or later."

  Sallis accepted the logic of this and nodded.

  "We can get some milas covered before dark," he said. "Time's running on."

  ***

  Sallis rode wrapped in thought, ignoring the chatter between Gamal and Oston. They had rejoined the main road through the forest, but Sallis kept an eye open on their backtrail, worried lest this "second man" might put in an appearance. Who knew what a sorcerer might be capable of?

  Too much failed to make sense, unless he accepted Sandev's version in its entirety, something he was very reluctant to do. Despite having something in common with them, Sallis doubted if he could ever fully trust any of the Gifted again. They had let him down.

  First Elvallon, dropping him before he was old enough to fully understand why. The Gift might not have worked in precisely the manner his tutor had expected, and today he could understand Elvallon's shock, but it was still the Gift. He had hardly told Elvallon to stick his gift and that he would instead turn to sorcery.

  Yet he may as well have said exactly that.

  Then there was Sandev. Oh, she had met him when he first came to Marka, but he suspected this meeting sprang more from curiosity than for any other reason. She had certainly never showed much interest in him since.

  But she had passed on a warning that he had come to the Malefic Sephiroth's attention. He still doubted that she had his best interests at heart, though she must prefer to keep him on her side than see him go over to sorcery.

  So even that motivation had proved selfish.

  No, not proved. Only suspected.

  Gamal looked over his shoulder. "You want us to ride on till darkness?" he asked. "Looks like a good place to doss down for the night over there." He nodded his head.

  Sallis glanced across. "All right," he said, "but I keep first watch."

  Gamal grinned. "Suspicious?"

  "He's always suspicious," interrupted Oston. "And he always takes first watch."

  Gamal shrugged. "Suit yourself."

  Gamal had found a good spot for camping out. Large enough to accommodate a trading caravan, the three of them had plenty of space. They saw to the horses first: checking hooves and giving each animal a good rub down, before finding good patches of grass for them to graze on.

  Oston built a small fire, while Gamal shared out dried meat he had brought with him.

  "Rannet said he wasn't working alone," said Sallis. "How do we know that he and his companion aren't following us?"

  Gamal shrugged. "We don't." He smiled around a mouthful of meat. "But there are three of us."

  "Is there more than one way through this forest?" pressed Sallis.

  Another shrug from Gamal. "Very likely lots of routes, known to woodcutters and poachers. Some may even be quicker."

  "The moment you two bed down, we'll put the fire out," said Sallis.

  "Suit yourself."

  "I will." Sallis gave a half-smile. "I like living."

  "Don't we all?" Gamal finished his cold meal quickly, found the best place for his bedroll, and settled down.

  Oston glanced at him.

  "You may as well grab some sleep too," said Sallis. "I'll wake you before midnight."

  While Oston sorted his own bedroll, Sallis kicked earth over the fire, effectively killing it. That done, he spread out his own blankets before sitting on a rock to one side of their small camp, sword at his side and quarterstaff across his knees.

  Dusk deepened to darkness, and a gentle snore came from Oston's bedroll.

  Gamal spoke. "What will you do to Rannet, when you catch up with him?"

  "You should be asleep," replied Sallis. "And you might wake Oston."

  Another snore showed where Oston slumbered on.

  "I'll sleep when I'm tired," said Gamal.

  "When I catch Rannet, I'm going to kill him," said Sallis, voice flat.

  "Motivated by revenge." Gamal sounded thoughtful.

  "Yes."

  "If I may say so, a selfish reason."

  "Selfish?" Sallis almost raised his voice, but thought of the sleeping Oston. "He murdered a family."

  "And no doubt he's murdered more than one." Gamal paused. "You believe you chase after their killer with some sort of principled justice as an excuse, but in reality you chase after him because you feel, in some small way, guilty."

  "What?"

  "Do you always chase after those who murder families and run them through with a sword?"

  "Usually only when commissioned to," grunted Sallis.

  "You've not been commissioned this time."

  "This time is different. They were my friends and I planned to marry Pelim."

  "Different yes," said Gamal keeping his voice low. "But this isn't about them because they are dead, and there is nothing you can do to restore them. Which means it's about you."

  "No it isn't." Sallis turned his head to stare at the road, now all but indistinguishable from the trees.

  "Of course it is. You weren't there to defend them. You feel guilt that you survive and they do not. You know they were killed to trigger your reaction."

  "Get some sleep," said Sallis, who hated that Gamal had hit a target. "It will be a long day tomorrow."

  ***

  Chapter 15 - Selim

  The road ahead began to zigzag uphill even before leaving the forest. When they finally broke free of the trees to emerge into brilliant sunshine, they stared up at a stony track meandering steeply uphill.

  "You can never see any sign of the pass from below," growled Oston, in disgust.

  "Best not to see how far you've got to go," replied Gamal, helpfully.

  Sallis said nothing. He'd enjoyed little sleep, thanks to Gamal's unsettling conversation. He had never philosophized on his reasons for coming after Rannet. Most of his chases after criminals he could file under "justice", though he had never yet had to kill. This chase happened for precisely that reason; a genuine hunt with an intentional death at the end.

  Were his justifications selfish? He'd certainly never considered it in that light before. The man had murdered for no good reason, Marka's City Guard had decided not to pursue the criminal who deserved to die, so Sallis had taken the task on himself.

  Justice should not have to operate this way, but sometimes people had little choice, especially in lands with no rule of law.

  But who was he to decide which crime deserved death and which did not?

  "It would be good to see," continued Oston. "It's not me doing all the work, but Hammer, and it's difficult to judge how easy to go on your horse when you can't see how far you need to travel."

&nb
sp; Gamal laughed. "Then let Hammer set his own pace."

  "Pah! We'd be here the rest of the year."

  Gamal's attention turned to Sallis. "You're very quiet."

  "I'm thinking," replied Sallis.

  "Good." Gamal gave the younger man a warm smile. "Thinking nourishes the soul."

  "Then his soul is overfed," said Oston, using his hat to fan his face. "Thought it got cooler the higher you went. The forest was better than this."

  Gamal sniffed. "We won't even reach the snowline," he said. "But it'll be cooler on the far side."

  "How do you know?"

  Sallis sighed.

  Gamal laughed at Oston. "Because we'll be east of the mountains and the sun will be past its meridian. We'll be in shade."

  "Oh good."

  They took a couple of rests as they climbed to the pass, trees giving way to sparse vegetation with a precarious roothold in the thin soil. Boulders surrounded the way up, and steep scree tumbled away down gullies.

  The road followed a shoulder of the mountain and, when even the vegetation had faded to nothing, it contoured across to join the top of a gully.

  "Water!" exclaimed Oston. "Hadn't we better stop for the horses' sake?"

  "A quick rest," agreed Sallis, aware of Glyder's sweat almost lathering his flanks.

  They dismounted and let the horses wander to the stream.

  "What a view!" breathed Oston, looking north-west.

  Mountain ridges strode away on either side of them, but they stared into the south-east corner of Marka's Outer Prefecture. The valley below, before it opened out into a plain, held the forest they had already ridden through. Haze blurred everything further away.

  After a glance at the scenery, Sallis scanned the path below, looking for lone riders, or perhaps two in company. Much of the lower path was hidden behind the shoulder they had just ridden up themselves, so he could not relax completely.

  So long as he stayed ahead, and so long as Gamal proved trustworthy. He couldn't decide precisely why Gamal made him so uneasy. Because he had bested him with sword versus quarterstaff? Because Sallis had needed rescuing after this Rannet had captured them?

  Those, he knew, were selfish reasons.

  He suspected that was the key. Selfishness. Gamal's philosophy seemed oddly familiar, even if Sallis hardly subscribed to it himself. He accepted his reasons for being here were hardly altruistic, but killing the man who had murdered his friends, who had murdered Pelim, was justice. Rough to be sure, but justice.

  The Gift did not lie. The man had left a piece of cloth behind and that had led Sallis straight to him. Rannet was guilty, so hardly a need to prove the case in a court of law.

  Only... law courts existed for a reason. To prove guilt precisely, clear the innocent, to ensure the authorities followed some sort of process before acting. The alternative, if everybody acted the same way as Sallis, would result in anarchy.

  But. He had the Gift, and this talent had been granted for a reason.

  Gamal was right: selfishness motivated him.

  "Have you ever been this high before?" asked Gamal, coming to stand beside him.

  Sallis shook his head. "Back home I liked to climb the hill behind our farm. I could see the sea from it and daydream about faraway places. This is higher, but no sea."

  Gamal pointed almost due east. "Alderra and Trenvera are that way; a long, long way before you reach the sea." He then gestured south. "At the far end of Selim is Duning, part of the Trading Council's lands. Just as far to the sea that way too. I shudder to think of the distance if we went west and there are only frozen wastelands if you venture far enough north."

  "You sound a well-traveled man," remarked Sallis, tone neutral.

  "I've been about," confirmed Gamal. "Born in Trenvera, a proud and independent land. I've been a sailor and seen the Imperial Republic and most ports in between. I was pressed into military service in Sandester and served during the siege there a few years back. Seven years back; time passes quickly when we're not watching."

  "Pressed into military service?" Sallis turned his head and looked into Gamal's hazel eyes.

  "You have to eat to live and sometimes you must steal to eat. Better than losing my hands."

  "So you have a criminal past."

  "Only through necessity," countered Gamal. "I paid them back heavily enough. I hope never to see another siege, unless I'm on the outside."

  "That bad?" Sallis's voice held a hint of sadness.

  "Terrible. You can learn a lot about human nature at such times. I can assure you, we are nothing more than animals once the veneer of civilization is stripped away. We are all selfish."

  Sallis opened his mouth to say more, but Gamal abruptly turned away. "We'd better push on. It's hot enough now, but once that sun goes, it gets bloody cold up here."

  It did not take very long to travel through the pass. The mountain ridge separating Marka's Outer Prefecture from Selim stretched to either side, but once Sallis noted a stream flowing the same way they traveled, he knew they would soon begin their descent.

  The path through was clear to the eye and soon they stared down towards another forest.

  "Selim," said Gamal, dramatically sweeping an arm from side to side. "The home of the Founding Mark."

  "So this is where he came from," said Sallis, without even pausing Glyder's stride. "So why did he found Marka on the far side of the mountains?"

  Gamal smiled. "Marka the City stood at the precise center of the small countries and statelets who had allied themselves with Mark. Of none, yet of all. The First Empire was built from that small beginning. Not even Selim was among those states."

  "Which ones were?" asked Sallis.

  "Their names and locations are remembered in the thanedoms that form both the Metropa and Outer Prefecture," said Oston.

  "That was Marka's first empire?" Sallis laughed. "Not much bigger than Re Annan and you called it an empire?"

  "Well, everybody has to begin somewhere." Oston sounded a touch defensive.

  "When I get my farm, I'll call it the ti Ath Empire," chortled Sallis.

  "It doesn't call itself an empire now," pointed out Gamal. "A man's idea of what an empire is has changed in the past seventeen hundred years. The second Markan Empire stretched from east coast to west coast, and swallowed where the Imperial Republic stands today."

  Sallis sniffed and stared down at the forest. He could follow the path meandering downhill easily enough, and felt pleased it appeared to be a lot less steep than the one they had so recently climbed.

  "We'd better get going," he said. "The forest will give us better shelter."

  Gamal nodded. "It will that," he agreed.

  "Is it home to many?"

  "Not humans," said Gamal. "There is a colony of sylphs, related to those who live west of the mountains."

  "No ilven," said Oston, with a mocking smile for Sallis.

  Gamal blinked and stared at the guardsman. "No ilven," he agreed, wearing a thoughtful expression. "Not for some time, anyway."

  "Let's get down there," decided Sallis, touching Glyder's flanks with his heels. "The sooner this is over, the better."

  ***

  Chapter 16 - Darkwood Forest

  "Darkwood Forest," said Gamal, as they plunged into near darkness.

  Pine trees and fir hemmed in the narrow road. So little light reached the forest floor that only dead brown needles covered the ground. A bird fluttered from branch to branch, but in the absence of any wind, everything else remained eerily quiet.

  "Worse than the other side," remarked Oston.

  "It gets better lower down," promised Gamal. "The trees change and there is more light."

  "Oak and ash," said Sallis. "Elm and beech. They all prefer lower altitudes."

  "Yes, whatever," muttered Oston, who preferred stone and buildings.

  "How large is the sylph colony?" asked Sallis.

  "A pretty big one I'm told," replied Gamal. "Thinking of capturing some fresh breeding
stock?"

  Sallis managed a thin smile. "Hardly. But sylphs see things humans do not. And they are very good at keeping watch."

  "Sadly for you, they usually stay well away from the road," said Gamal. "Sensible really."

  "Why's that?" asked Oston.

  "Harder to catch them that way." Gamal shrugged. "I know, I know; it's illegal. But stud farms are always begging for new bloodlines and you can't get fresher than wild sylph for our stocks. Though they do sometimes trade their infertiles."

  "We were wondering about that," said Sallis, remembering his conversation with Oston. "But not their breeders. Is it true that young males travel between the colonies?"

  "Some, to try and prevent inbreeding, but not all of them make it to their destination."

  "Slavers." A small grimace turned Oston's mouth.

  "They can make a fortune from wild sylphs," remarked Gamal. "Though I doubt many surrender their independence readily."

  "How much further to Rannet's home?" Sallis decided to change the subject.

  "We won't make it tonight," replied Gamal, "but perhaps tomorrow. Certainly the day after."

  "You sure he's coming?"

  Gamal shrugged. "Eventually. There's nobody else to look after it, so he has to return fairly regularly. And he'll know you've escaped; he can track as well as anybody else." He gave Sallis a sideways look. "Nearly anybody else."

  Sallis nodded and fell into introspective silence.

  ***

  As they descended, the nature of the forest changed. Trees grew taller and prouder, spreading leafy branches with plenty of gaps between. Grasses and wildflowers flourished on the ground, and pleasant moss marched up tree trunks and along ancient branches.

  "Still called Darkwood?" asked Oston.

  "It is," replied Gamal. "Few people live here. They fear it for some reason. Even the traders pass through quickly."

  "It can't be too frightening, else no sylphs would live here," said Sallis. "By the way, that looks like a good place to stop."

  Somebody had piled large stones to provide a windbreak, and a flat grassy area gave them plenty of room to spread out their bedding. A stream ran through one side and a firepit had been dug in the center.

  "They've even left the turf to cover it over," said Oston.

  "We'll need to find somewhere to get new provisions," announced Sallis. "I don't fancy hunting for my supper after tomorrow."

  "We'll pass through a village when we leave the forest," promised Gamal. "They'll have provisions for sure; even traders need to replace their food regularly. And they don't have time for hunting, either."