LEGEND by David A. Gemmell

‘We are all weapon masters here. We seek the perfect death, to counterpoint the perfect life. True the Nadir aggression does not pose a new concept in history. But their action will cause untold horror to the Drenai people. We can say that to defend those people we are upholding the values of our Order. That our defence will fail is no reason to avoid the battle. For it is the motive that is pure, and not the outcome.

‘Sadly, the Soul says we must ride for Dros Delnoch.’

‘So,’ said Serbitar. ‘We are agreed. I, too, feel strongly on this matter. We came to this Temple as outcasts from the world. Shunned and feared, we came together to create the ultimate contradiction. Our bodies would become living weapons, to polar­ise our minds to extremes of pacifism. Warrior-priests we are, as the Elders never were. There will be no joy in our hearts as we slay the enemy, for we love all life.

‘As we die our souls will leap forward, transcend­ing the world’s chains. All petty jealousies, intrigues and hatreds will be left behind us as we journey to the Source.

‘The Voice says we ride.’

*

A three-quarter moon hung in the cloudless night sky, casting pale shadows from the trees around Rek’s camp-fire. A luckless rabbit, gutted and encased in clay, lay on the coals as Virae came back from the stream, wiping her naked upper body with one of Rek’s spare shirts.

‘If only you knew how much that cost me!’ he said as she sat on a rock by the fire, her body glowing gold as the flames danced.

‘It never served a better purpose,’ she said. ‘How much longer before that rabbit is ready?’

‘Not long. You will catch your death of cold, sit­ting half-naked in this weather. My blood’s chilling to ice just watching you.’

‘Strange!’ she said. ‘Just this morning you were telling me how your blood ran hot just to look at me.’

‘That was in a warm cabin with a bed handy. I’ve never been much for making love in the snow. Here, I’ve warmed a blanket.’

‘When I was a child,’ she said, taking the blanket and wrapping it round her shoulders, ‘we used to have to run three miles across the downs in midwin­ter wearing only a tunic and sandals. That was bracing. And extremely cold.’

‘If you’re so tough, how was it that you turned blue before we found the cabin?’ he asked, a broad smile robbing the question of malice.

‘The armour,’ she said. ‘Too much steel, not enough wool beneath it. Mind you, if I had been riding in front I wouldn’t have got so bored and fallen asleep. How long did you say that rabbit would be? I’m starving.’

‘Soon. I think . . .’

‘Have you ever cooked a rabbit this way before?’ she asked.

‘Not exactly. But it is the right way – I’ve seen it done. All the fur comes away as you crack the clay. It’s easy.’

Virae was not convinced. ‘I stalked that skinny beast for ages,’ she said, recalling with pleasure the single arrow from forty paces which had downed it. ‘Not a bad bow, if a little on the light side. It’s an old cavalry bow, isn’t it? We have several at Delnoch. The modern ones are all silver steel now -better range and a stronger poundage. I’m starving.’

‘Patience aids the appetite,’ he told her.

‘You’d better not ruin that rabbit. I don’t like killing the things at the best of times. But at least there’s a purpose if one can eat it.’

‘I’m not sure how the rabbit would respond to that line of reasoning,’ said Rek.

‘Can they reason?’ asked Virae.

‘I don’t know, I didn’t mean it literally.’

‘Then why say it? You are a strange man.’

‘It was just an abstract thought. Do you never have an abstract thought? Do you never wonder how a flower knows when it’s time to grow? Or how the salmon find its way back to the spawning grounds?’

‘No,’ she said. ‘Is the rabbit cooked?’

‘Well, what do you think about, when you’re not planning how to kill people?’