Gemmell, David – Dark Moon

‘Indeed there is, brother. Have they come to join us?’

‘If they have, it is too late,’ said the old monk. ‘But at least we can give them a warm meal for their journey back to the damned.’

There was a bright fire burning in an iron stove by the far wall. Tarantio walked to it and warmed his hands, then he moved to the window which overlooked the courtyard

and the gates. The old priest set two bowls of steaming soup on the table. Duvodas thanked him. ‘We are here looking for a man named . . .’

‘Kario,’ said Tarantio suddenly. ‘A young man who was sent to join you. Have you seen him?’

‘Kario? No, I don’t believe we have any acolytes of that name. But then we may have turned him away. Now that the last days are upon us, there is no need of new acolytes. The evils of this world will be burned away and the Letters of Revelation will rule, as our prophet ordained. Have no fear, brothers, we will rule wisely and well, and the world will become a paradise of prayer and celebration. I am sorry that your journey here has been in vain.’

‘We are grateful for your hospitality,’ said Tarantio. ‘And doubly grateful for the heat spell you sent down the path for us.’

‘It was not for you, my friend, though I am glad you took benefit from it. The Servants of the Lord are coming, and we wished to show them courtesy.’

‘The Servants of the Lord?’ queried Duvodas.

‘Those who are fulfilling His desires. The Cleansers. The Bringers of Fire and Destruction. As the Holy Word tells us: “Their swords will plough the cities, their spears will sunder armies. Fortress walls will shiver and fall at the sound of their hoof beats.”‘

‘The Daroth,’ said Tarantio.

‘Indeed,’ agreed the old man amiably. ‘The Servants of the Lord. Your soup is getting cold. Eat. Rest.’

Tarantio sat down and ate, dipping bread into the soup. It was bland and tasteless. ‘It is very good,’ he said. ‘Tell me, brother, why are the Servants of the Lord coming here?’

‘We sent an emissary to them – to let them know that not all men are consumed by evil. We captured one of their

enemies, the vile Sirano. He destroyed many of the Servants with devilish fire, then escaped into the wilderness. We have him here – awaiting their justice.’

The sound of singing faded away, to be followed by a booming noise coming from the gates. ‘Ah, they are here,’ said the old priest. ‘Please excuse me. I must welcome them with my brothers.’

It was Dace who rose and moved to block the priest’s path. ‘Where is Sirano held?’ he asked.

‘Why would you wish to know that?’

‘We are here to rescue him,’ said Dace.

‘You are Slaves of the Ungodly?’ The old man took a backward step. ‘I shall tell you nothing.’ Dace drew a throwing-knife, then spun and hurled it into the throat of the priest in the kitchen. The man staggered back, then fell from sight. Dace drew a second blade and advanced on the old man.

‘Oh, you will tell me, old fool. And you will tell me now!’

‘He is in the upper turret,’ wailed the old man. ‘Please do not kill me!’

Dace sheathed the knife, and gestured to the priest to leave. ‘Go,’ he said coldly. ‘Welcome your guests.’ As the old man shuffled past the warrior, Dace slammed a blow to the priest’s neck which snapped with a loud crack. ‘Let’s go,’ he told Duvodas.

‘There was no need to kill them,’ stormed Duvo.

‘Look out of the window,’ ordered Dace, and Duvodas did so. In the courtyard below, some twenty Daroth warriors had marched through the gates. ‘You think any of these priests will be alive come dusk? Now let’s find Sirano.’

With a heavy heart Duvodas followed Dace. The two men left the room and ran along the corridor. Finding a

set of stairs leading up, they took them two at a time. At the top was another corridor; moving along it they came to a spiral staircase. ‘This place is like a rabbit warren,’ said Dace. ‘I can’t tell where we are. Let us hope this is the way to the turret he spoke of.’

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162

Leave a Reply 0

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *