Bridge Between the Worlds Page 20
It was not too long before the captain’s body was no more than a pile of ash and the crowd dispersed, returning to their various duties. A new Hartiani had been named captain rather than electing to take on the position. Demeron approached Gorhoth and kneeled to show his respect before facing him. Gorhoth’s eyes still flickered with a threatening fire.
“I hope you have journeyed all the way here because your news is so good that it could not wait Demeron. I would hate to think that your efforts were only to bring me disappointment like the captain. His account of his duties was… disappointing.”
Demeron was not overly perturbed by this warning because his news was indeed good, for the most part. He was doing some quick thinking as to how much information he should convey at this point. There was a lot of information that he might safely be able to hold onto and use as protection in future. He could afford to be sparing.
“I bring good news of course my Lord. I would not have wasted time to bring you news of failure. If I had not yet been successful I would have continued working without rest or pause.”
Gorhoth actually broke into a smile at these words as if he was highly amused.
“Well said Demeron, well said. A very appropriate attitude in light of the captain’s poor one, which brought him to an unpleasant end. Tell me then, what is your news? I am in need of successful ventures from my servants.”
“Lord, it seemed at first that the Elf had carefully made herself untraceable in the new world. So instead I tried searching again for the human Szekeres.”
“A wise strategy. He was always closely acquainted with the Elf. What success then?”
“Lord, I found his home in the other world and have pried much information from it. He was not there. I tracked down the house using the humans’ communication network. I discovered that he is away on a journey but will return soon.”
“This is a positive step but hardly worth bothering me with Demeron. Why not wait until you had gotten information out of him before reporting to me?”
“Because my Lord, the Elf is most certainly with him. There is evidence that Szekeres married the Elf after the fashion of humans.”
Demeron hesitated, considering if he should mention the girl but Gorhoth was clearly already pleased. This information he could hold onto in case he needed it later. He said nothing yet about the daughter.
“So, we need only wait and they will bring themselves to us. We must be vigilant so as not to miss them. You know what to do Demeron.”
Demeron bowed low and prepared to leave. No more needed to be said.
“I am greatly pleased Demeron.”
There was indeed a very lustful light in Gorhoth’s eyes. Soon he would have all the tools he needed, the ultimate power in his hands.
✽ ✽ ✽
Samuka and Eva moved fast but even so, keeping up with the elf was a challenge. He didn’t even give the impression that he was moving his limbs faster. He just flitted between the trees ahead of them as if the intervening space didn’t exist. They said nothing and focused on simply keeping pace.
They had been following Arnorial for three days now, which had taken them beyond the south border into the Kingdom of Silas. The humanoid creatures that dominated the Kingdom here were called Lizardmen by the humans. To the more educated, they were Gyikembereck, which came from elvish. The bulk of their Kingdom now lay to the west. Their hunting trio’s quarry had skirted around it on their rapid journey almost due south. Both of the rangers knew the land quite well. In the past they had performed duties in the area, helping King Silas’ forces with maintaining peace, and taking care of bandits who harassed the caravans heading east for trade. Now though, tensions between the humans of the north and the reptilian folk of the south had become very strained. They would likely be very harshly received if they ventured too far into the country unannounced. For the moment it seemed more like the minotaurs would bend towards the mountains in the east. This made sense but was by no means comforting. The mountains were dangerous at any time of the year, even for experienced travelers.
Arnorial’s voice called out some distance ahead of them.
“Sad signs that we are still on the right track my friends. You had best come.”
They caught up quickly and were greeted by a harrowing sight. Arnorial was checking the ground around the grim scene. There had been a death. The woman’s eyes were still open, staring eternally at the last horror before the darkness. Her clothes were tattered, her feet ruptured and bleeding. Clearly, she had not been wearing shoes when she was taken. Her ash blonde hair was dirty and unkempt. Worst of all was the clear, fresh cut around her throat. Samuka and Eva bowed their heads in sorrow.
Arnorial soon stopped his search and returned to the body. Gently, he closed her eyes and arranged her limbs into a more peaceful looking position. She had not been dead long.
“Oludj békésen Gyermek,” he said in a surprisingly soft voice.
He closed his eyes and held his arms out above the body. Plants seemed to grow in fast-motion, twisting upwards and over the young woman, caressing her gently, leading her down to her place of rest. As the movement of the earth ceased, flowers sprouted on top of the upset soil, the best gift Arnorial could give in a brief pause from the pursuit.
“Her fate,” Arnorial said solemnly, “I fear has been all too easy to work out. She tried with impressive tenacity to keep moving but when her body could no longer stand the torment of the journey, the minotaurs killed her to save their time and kept moving.”
Samuka and Eva nodded their understanding but both their faces were twisted by the anger inside them. It gave them an inner fire and a new lease of energy. They continued their chase with increased vigor and the land started to roll past them.
The continued journey took a full month but try as they might, they could not overtake the raiding party. They had left Silas’ kingdom in the north west and were approaching the badlands which stretched out from the mountains in a giant circle around the site of the smoke citadel. Samuka had only ever seen it once before. Eva had never been there. But both of them knew their history and the mere thought of the place instilled a chilling sense of fear in their chests. It was absolutely clear where their prey was leading them. The citadel was not yet in sight but Arnorial commanded them to make camp and remain still while he scouted ahead.
Two days had passed since then and now they waited as patiently as they could for Arnorial’s return. Their nerves were fraying.
✽ ✽ ✽
Chapter 10
It had been nearly a week since Amy, Martay and Snipping had left Budapest behind and fled to nowhere in particular. When they had reached the train station the next available train was heading for a final destination of Switzerland’s capital, Bern. They were lucky that it was winter. Layers and layers of warm clothes were commonplace and without them, disguising Snipping would have been impossible. After some thought about how he could travel without any documentation Amy and Martay had agreed it would be easiest to pretend he was a baby, wrapped up as if to keep him warm in a pram. Snipping had made it abundantly clear that he did not approve of this plan at all and had probably broken some kind of record for stringing together swear words as he expressed his displeasure. He had a large number of languages to draw on for this. In the end though, his failed attempt to buy a ticket disguised as a small boy forced him to try Amy and Martay's plan which had gone smoothly. Unfortunately for them, Snipping had rather conveniently been able to continue expressing his displeasure whilst adopting his disguise; he pretended to cry incessantly.
They had not passed their time uncomfortably. In fact, it had felt like a holiday. There had been no sign of the strange dazed people searching for them, a point which had relaxed Martay and Snipping but had caused Amy some degree of disquiet. What if the puppet-people were still in Budapest searching for her parents? And when would her parents return? They had not known for certain how long they would be travelling and it sounded like they were in dang
er. There wasn’t much she could do though. She was on the run herself and would be crazy to search blindly for her parents in the Himalayas. They would need to wait for further information before they could make any real plans.
In the meantime, Amy had guiltily been using her parents’ credit card, one they had given her for use in tight situations while they were apart. In the end she convinced herself that her parents would understand but she tried to keep their budget modest. Her parents were certainly wealthy but she had no idea how long they would be on the run and worse, she wasn’t sure her parents would have agreed with her decision to run away.
Nevertheless, Amy couldn’t help but believe, albeit at increased concern for her parents, that running had put her in a safer place than if she had stayed. Without anything having happened for a week, it was reasonable to suggest that they were not being followed. Furthermore, some unseen evil monster in another world hunting them down through peoples’ dreams was a difficult notion to feel scared about without the creepy people following them around, and they were nestled in a picture-perfect town at the feet of the Swiss Alps.
Martay had felt so relaxed about their situation that he had suggested taking advantage of their surroundings to go skiing. Amy had been forcing herself to try and behave very seriously but she had been sorely tempted.
Morning broke brightly over a cloudless sky and the golden light set the snow afire with a beautiful glow in the mountains. On the flat ground the snow sparkled like diamonds. There had been a fresh fall overnight.
Martay awoke first and pulled back the curtains to reveal the stunning scenery, which improved his mood even further. In his mind the week was going splendidly. They had not been followed, meaning Amy was safe, they were comfortably accommodated and relaxed and Amy had not been visited by the Arbiter since before they had left Budapest.
To maintain the ruse that they were a couple with a baby, they had taken a single queen bed room and sharing it with Amy made him feel childishly excited and nervous. That was all it was though, a place to sleep and nothing more. He didn’t dare try to make anything more of it. It would have been a flagrant abuse of the circumstances. He would almost certainly be asked to sleep separately on the couch if he tried. In the end he decided to do nothing and just enjoy the closeness as it was.
Amy sat up blinking, trying to adjust to the sudden change in light. Snipping was already on his feet and cracking various body parts in a methodical morning routine. As usual, they ordered breakfast to be brought to the room so that Snipping could eat comfortably with them. Martay placed the order, since his German was much better than Amy’s. However, when it was delivered there was an awkward moment. The serving lady had clearly built up her boldness to comment on the strange order she had been delivering for the past few days.
“Das Baby trinkt also Kaffee schon mit?” she asked Martay in German.
It was clear that she found it odd and inappropriate that such a young couple had a baby and the fact that they had ordered three lots of everything had led her to believe that Amy and Martay had no idea what they were doing when it came to young children. Martay tried to put on a good humoured laugh as he replied.
“Natürlich nicht. Wir teilen die dritte Portion zwischen uns.” The lady frowned and Martay added, “Grossen Appetiten, das kann ich nicht vermeiden.”
The lady left them.
“What on earth was that all about?” asked Amy shortly after the door had been closed.
“Morning banter? You look… put out. What did she ask?”
Martay responded a little slowly as Snipping joined them and began eating.
“She asked if the baby was already drinking coffee. She obviously found it strange that we keep ordering three of everything. I told her we shared the third meal because we have large appetites but I’m sure she didn’t believe me. Do you think there’s any risk of her doing something?”
“I’m not sure there is much she can do. It’s not like we aren’t paying or anything. Then again if she’s even half curious she could always poke around when they clean the rooms but what’s the worst that can really come out of it?”
Martay shrugged and began eating as well. It wasn’t worth worrying about.
“So, what do you think about going skiing? It would be nice to get out and do something and it seems like we are very safe. No one has found us here.”
Amy had finally given up trying to fight her desire to ski. There seemed to be no harm in it.
“Yeah, I think we can. After all, we are in Switzerland with not much else to do.”
Snipping cleared his throat, which clearly indicated that he had an opinion on the matter.
“You should be concentratin’ on trainin’ miss Amy. We’re not on ‘oliday and the enemy is certainly not bein’ idle whatever it is that ‘e’s doin’.”
Amy looked at Martay uncomfortably. She felt guilty but then, was it her fault that the Arbiter hadn’t made contact yet? She was trying to convince herself that she had a valid excuse.
“Maybe the Arbiter can’t reach me because I’m not sleeping properly? A good days skiing would really tire me out. Maybe then it would be easier to make contact.”
Snipping frowned and mumbled something to himself that sounded distinctly like ‘ignorant moron’, which he obviously didn’t dare say out loud. Then he answered.
“Enterin’ the dream plane should’t be a matter o’ tiredness. For a trained dreamwalker bein’ tired makes absolutely no difference. You should be able to enter and exit the plane at will.”
“But I’m not fully trained at all! I’ve barely started. Surely it will help me given my current, hopeless skill?”
Snipping gave up. He knew with certainty that this was an idea the two human children would find any excuse for and there was no point fighting them any longer.
“Ahhh whatever then but let’s go somewhere a good distance from ‘ere. It’s time we all moved, for safety’s sake.”
The conversation shifted to where they should go and eventually they settled on Port du Soleil, a ski resort Amy had visited on Switzerland’s west border with France when she had been younger. It was a good distance from the town they were staying in south east from Bern.
They finalised their account for the hotel before making their way to the train. Amy and Martay were deep in discussion about what type of ski’s they would hire. They were both in excellent spirits, the worries and reasons for their being here altogether forgotten for the time being, a concern of yesterday. Snipping on the other hand was in a foul mood over being in the pram again and worse still because he didn’t know how to ski. Once they were on the train in a secluded compartment, he vocalised his views on the decision with a bitter tone.
“We should be workin’ on ways to fight Gorhoth, not enjoyin’ a holiday. I mean, what’s the point of skiin’ anyway? Typical of humans to think up somethin’ like skiing! Flingin’ ‘emselves down deadly mountain slopes for fun! It’s a shinin’ example of their overwhelmin’ stupidity.”
Martay and Amy looked at each other with smiles on their faces. Snipping hadn’t been able to cover up the anxiety in his voice. He was nervous about trying to ski.
“Well of course, you don’t have to join us on the slopes Snipping. We know you wouldn’t want to join in a human activity that is… how did you put it? A shining example of our overwhelming stupidity? Besides, you would only slow us down.”
Martay smirked at the immediate reaction his words achieved. Snipping’s face was contorted as it tried to express indignity, anger, agreement and determination simultaneously. Eventually he worked out how best to respond to Martay's goading comment.
“O’ course I don’t wanna partake but it’s unavoidable. You can hardly be seen to leave an infant child alone in a pram while ya ski. I’d be discovered!” His facial expression had now settled on indignance. “And I am quite certain I won’t be a hindrance. After all, ‘ow ‘ard can it be if humans do it?”
After this Snipping had to d
uck down silently as the ticket inspector came by on her patrol. She was a younger woman and smiled warmly at Martay and Amy as she left the compartment after checking their passes. Snipping sat back up quickly.
“’ow much longer is it to this ski place anyway?” he asked.
Amy checked her watch.
“Ummm, about another two or three hours I guess. We have to change train in Laussane though. That’s about an hour and a half away. We have a fair few stops in between so we will be a bit slow getting there.”
Snipping flopped back down with a grunt.
“Well, ya can leave me asleep when ya change trains. I’m an infant after all so I can’t ‘elp with anythin’ when we get there.”
Amy actually laughed out loud and Martay rolled his eyes in a bemused way. The two of them leaned back in their seats. The gentle rocking of the train eventually lulled them into a light doze.
✽ ✽ ✽
Vencel walked confidently and purposefully towards the city gates. He did not try to be inconspicuous. People trying to look inconspicuous stood out in a crowd and he knew that all too well. The general bustle of the street around him, combined with his complete lack of notoriety, made him invisible in the open. He was pleased with himself. The past month had been an unparalleled success. The wanted poster stuck to one of the town billboards was a testament to this. Samuka was a wanted man dead or alive for high treason. It has been so easy. Vencel had expected Samuka to show up weeks ago, fighting the accusations furiously. Instead, the man had simply disappeared, making him appear exceedingly guilty in light of the Duke’s proclamation. Vencel’s contact would surely be pleased. The last raid had gone as planned and he was now on his way to confirm details for the next. He glowed with an inner fire. It was so easy to take control of a kingdom so long as you weren’t actually the leader.
The highway from the gate twisted helpfully through the forest, so it was not hard at all for Vencel to disappear down a small animal track into the woods unnoticed. The trek took well over an hour but his contact couldn’t safely get too close to any areas of human civilization.