‘What does it mean?’ asked Tenaka. Scaler shrugged and moved away.
‘Death calls me. I must answer,’ whispered the mystic. ‘And yet the Torchbearer is not here.’
‘Give me the message, old man. I will pass it on, I promise you.’
‘Dark Templars ride against the Prince of Shadows. He cannot hide, for the torch is bright against the night. But thought is faster than arrows, and truth is sharper than blades. The beasts can fall, but only the King Beyond the Gate can bring them down.’
‘Is that all?’ asked Tenaka.
‘You are the Torchbearer,’ said the man. ‘Now I see you clearly. You are chosen by the Source.’
‘I am the Prince of Shadows,’ said Tenaka. ‘But I do not follow the Source, or any god. I believe in none of them.’
‘The Source believes in you,’ said the old man. ‘I must go now. My rest is near.’
As Tenaka watched him hobble from the camp, his bare feet blue against the snow, Scaler joined him.
‘What did he say to you?’
‘I did not understand it.’
‘Tell me the words,’ said Scaler and Tenaka repeated them. Scaler nodded. ‘Some of it is easy to decipher. The Dark Templars, for example. Have you heard of The Thirty?’
‘Yes. Warrior priests who spend their lives becoming pure in the heart before riding off to die in a distant war. The Order died out years ago.’
‘The Dark Templars are an obscene parody of The Thirty. They worship the Chaos Spirit and their powers are dark, yet deadly. Every form of vileness is pleasure to them, and they are formidable warriors.’
‘And Ceska has sent them against me?’
‘It would seem so. They are led by a man named Padaxes. There are sixty-six warriors in each temple, and ten temples. They have powers beyond those of normal men.’
‘They will need them,’ said Tenaka grimly. ‘What of the rest of his words?’
‘Thought is faster than arrows? That you must outthink your enemies. The King Beyond the Gate is a mystery. But you should know.’
‘Why?’
‘Because the message was for you. You must be part of it.’
‘And what of your message?’
‘What about it?’
‘What did it mean?’
‘It meant I must travel with you, though I do not desire it.’
‘I don’t understand,’ said Tenaka. ‘You have free will – you may go where you please.’
‘I suppose so,’ said Scaler, smiling. ‘But it is time I found my path. You remember the old man’s words to me? “Of Bronze you sprang”? My ancestor was also Regnak the Wanderer. “Kin to Shadow”? That is you, cousin. “Dark spears hover”? The Templars. The red I carry? The blood of the Earl of Bronze. I have run long enough.’
‘Arvan?’
‘Yes.’
Tenaka placed his hands on the young man’s shoulders. ‘I have often wondered what became of you.’
‘Ceska ordered me slain and I ran away. I have spent a long time running away. Too damned long! I’m not much of a swordsman, you know.’
‘No matter. It is good to see you again.’
‘And you. I followed your career and I kept a diary of your exploits. It is probably still at Delnoch. By the way, there was something else the old man said, right at the beginning. He said that there were three. Of Gold, and Ice, and Shadow. Ananais is the Golden One. You are the Khan of Shadows. Who is Ice?’
Tenaka turned away, staring through the trees.
‘There was a man once. He was known as the Ice Killer, since he lived only for death. His name is Decado.’
*
For three days the companions skirted the forest, moving south and west towards the Skoda mountains. The weather was growing warmer, the snow retreating before the spring sunshine. They moved warily and on the second day they found the body of the blind seeker, kneeling by a twisted oak. The ground was too hard to attempt a burial and they left him there.
Galand and his brother paused by the corpse.
‘He doesn’t seem too unhappy,’ said Parsal, scratching his beard.
‘It’s hard to know whether he’s smiling, or whether death has pulled his face into a grin.’ said Galand. ‘He won’t look too happy in about a month.’