Waylander 3 – Hero in the Shadows By David Gemmell

Ustarte considered his words, then shook her head. ‘What power remains in me I will use to aid those who will fight the enemy. I will not run.’

‘And who will fight?’ asked Menias. ‘Who will stand against the Kriaz-norl The Duke and his soldiers? They will be cut down – or worse. They will be captured and Joined. Other nobles will be seduced by promises of riches or extended life, or power within the new order. Humans are so easily corrupted.’

‘I think the Grey Man will fight,’ she said.

‘One human?’ asked the astonished Menias. ‘We risk our lives because of your faith in one human?’

‘There will be more than one,’ she said. ‘There is another clue that links the legends. All the stories speak of the return of the heroes. They die, and yet people believe they will come again when the need is upon the land. It is my belief that those who aided humanity subtly Joined the heroes they used, so that when the evil returned their descendants would have the power to combat it.’

‘With respect, Great One,’ said Corvidal, ‘that is a hope not a belief. There is not a shred of true evidence to substantiate such a hypothesis.’

‘It is more than a hope, Corvidal. We know the power of Joining for that is how we exist. We also know that our rulers ensure that no Joining can ever sire – or bear -children. They dare not risk creating beings who could decide their own destiny. But I think this is what the Ancients did, enhancing their human allies and allowing the talents to be passed from generation to generation. We see it around us even now. Nadir shamen who can meld man and wolf into fearsome creatures. Source Priests whose spirits can soar and whose powers can heal terrible diseases. We know from our studies that before the coming of the Ancients mankind had few of these gifts. The Ancients imbued certain members of the human race with them. The Ancients told their allies that, in times to come, if the evil returned, these powers would flower again. Hence the legends of the return of kings and heroes. I sense it in the Grey Man.’

‘He is merely a killer,’ said Prial dismissively.

‘He is more than that. There is a nobility of spirit in him, and a power not found in ordinary men.’

‘I am not convinced,’ said Prial. ‘I stand with Corvidal on this issue. You are risking our lives on a forlorn hope.’

Seeing that they were all in agreement she bowed her head. ‘I will open a gateway for you all to leave,’ she said, sadly.

‘And yet you will stay?’ asked Corvidal softly.

‘I will.’

‘Then I will stay with you, Great One.’

Menias and Prial glanced at one another. Then Prial spoke. ‘I will stay until the arrival of the Kriaz-nor. But I have no wish to throw away my life needlessly.’

‘And you, Menias?’ asked the priestess.

He shrugged his powerful shoulders. ‘Where you are, Great One, there shall I be.’

Yu Yu Liang cleared his throat and spat into the sea. He was miserable. It seemed to him that his quest to become a hero was not all he had anticipated. As a ditch-digger he received a small amount of coin at the end of the week, which he would use on food, alcohol, lodging and pleasure-women. There was always enough food, never enough women and far too much alcohol. But, looking back, it had not been as unpleasant a life as it had seemed while he was living it.

Picking up a flat rock, Yu Yu threw it far out over the waves. It struck once, skimmed for another twenty feet, then disappeared below the surface.

He sighed. Now he had a sharp sword, no money, no women, and was sitting in the sunshine of a foreign land wondering why he had travelled this far. He had not intended to leave the lands of the Chiatze. His first thought had been to strike out for the mountains to the west and join a band of robbers. Then he had come upon the battlefield, and the dead Rajnee. He recalled the moment when he had first seen the sword. It was jutting from the earth just behind a bush. Sunlight had glanced from the blade as Yu Yu was robbing the corpse. The Rajnee was carrying no coin, and Yu Yu had pushed himself to his feet and walked to the sword. It was quite beautiful, the blade gleaming, the long, two-handed hilt wondrously fashioned and leatherbound. The pommel was of silver, embossed with a mountain flower. Reaching out, Yu Yu drew the sword from the earth.