Hero in the Shadows: A Waylander the Slayer Novel

Waylander moved warily across the killing ground, examining thehoofprints left by riders who had come upon the scene later. Twenty,maybe thirty riders had entered the wood and left in the same direction.All around the site were the bodies of scores of birds. He found a deadfox in the bushes to the north of the wagons. There were no marks on it.Venturing deeper into the woods, he followed the trail of dead birds andice-scorched grass, coming at last to what he believed to be the pointof origin. It was a perfect circle some thirty feet in diameter.Waylander walked around it, picturing as best he could what must havehappened there. An icy mist had formed in the spot, then had rolledtoward the west as if driven by a fierce breeze. Everything in its pathhad died, including the wagoners and their families.But where, then, were the remains of the bodies, the discarded bones,the shredded clothing?Backtracking toward the wagons, he stopped and examined an area wherebushes had been crushed or torn from the ground. Blood had seeped intothe earth. This was where one of the dead horses had been dragged.Waylander found more deep imprints of taloned feet close by. Onecreature had killed the horse and torn it from its traces, pulling itdeeper into the woods. The blood trail stopped suddenly. Waylandersquatted down, his fingers tracing the indented earth. The horse hadbeen dragged to this point and then had lost all body weight. Yet it hadnot been devoured here. Even if the demon had been ten feet tall, itcould not have consumed an entire horse. And there were no signs thatothers of the creatures had gathered around to share a feast. There wereno split and discarded bones, no guts or offal.Waylander rose and reexamined the surrounding area. The tracks oftaloned feet just beyond this point were all heading in one direction,toward the lake. The demons, having slaughtered the wagoners and theirhorses, had returned to where he now stood and had vanished. Asincredible as it seemed, there was no other explanation. They hadreturned to wherever they had come, taking the bodies with them.The light was beginning to fail. Waylander returned to the steeldust andstepped into the saddle.What had caused the demons to materialize in the first place? Surely itcould not be chance that they had happened upon a convoy. As far as heknew, there had been two attacks: one on Matze Chai and his men and thesecond on these unfortunate wagoners. Both parties had contained largenumbers of men and horses.Or, looked at from another viewpoint, a great deal of food.Waylander headed the steeldust away from the woods and began the longride around the lake. In the years he had dwelt in Kydor there had beenno such attacks. Why now?The sun was setting behind the mountains as he skirted the lake. Afeeling of unease grew within him as he headed toward the distant ruins.Lifting his crossbow, he slid two bolts into place.When the sword had begun to shine, Yu Yu Liang had been frightened. Now,an hour later, he would have given anything he possessed to be merelyfrightened. Clouds had obscured the moon and stars, and the only lightcame from the blade in his hands. From beyond the ruined walls and allaround him he could hear stealthy sounds. Sweat dripped into Yu Yu'seyes as he strained to see beyond the jagged stonework. Twice he hadtried to wake Kysumu, the second time shaking him roughly. It was liketrying to rouse the dead.Yu Yu's mouth was dry. He heard a scratching on the stony ground to hisleft and swung toward it, raising his sword high. As the light shone, hesaw a dark shadow disappear behind the rocks. A low growl came fromsomewhere close by, the sound echoing in the night air. Yu Yu waspetrified now. His hands began to tremble, and he was gripping the swordhilt so powerfully that he could hardly feel his fingers.They are just wild dogs, he told himself. Scavenging for scraps. Nothingto fear.Wild dogs that could make the Rajnee blade shine?With a trembling hand he wiped sweat from his eyes and glanced backtoward the horses. They were tethered within the ruin. The gray mare wasshivering with terror, her eyes wide, her ears flat back against herskull. Kysumu's bay gelding was pawing the ground nervously. From thereYu Yu could just make out the line of hills and the slope he had riddendown only a few hours before. If he ran to the mare and clambered intothe saddle, he could make that ride again and be clear of the ruinswithin moments.The thought was like cool water to a man dying of thirst.He flicked a glance to the seated Kysumu. His face, as ever, was calm.Yu Yu swore loudly, feeling his anger rise."Only an idiot goes seeking demons," he said, his voice sounding shrill.High above him the clouds parted briefly, and moonlight bathed theghostly city of Kuan Hador. In that sudden light Yu Yu saw several darkshapes scatter to hide among the rocks. As he tried to focus on them,the clouds gathered once more. Yu Yu licked his lips and backed acrossthe ruin to stand alongside Kysumu."Wake up!" he shouted, nudging the man with his foot.The moon shone once more. Again the dark shapes scattered. But they werecloser now. Yu Yu rubbed his sweating palms on the sides of his leggingsand took up his sword once more, swinging it left and right to loosenthe muscles of his shoulders. "I am Yu Yu Liang!" he shouted. "I am agreat swordsman, and I fear nothing!""I can taste your fear," came a sibilant voice.Yu Yu leapt backward, catching his leg on the low wall and falling overit. He scrambled to his feet.At that moment a huge black form came hurtling toward him, its greatjaws open, long fangs snapping for his face. Yu Yu swung the sword. Itslashed into the beast's neck, slicing through flesh and bone andexiting in a bloody spray. The creature's dead body cannoned into him,hurling him from his feet. Yu Yu hit the ground hard, rolled to hisknees, then surged to his feet. Smoke began to ooze from the carcassalongside him, and a terrible stench filled the air.Five more of the beasts came padding toward the ruin, clambering overthe broken stones and forming a circle around him. Yu Yu saw that theywere hounds, but of a kind he had never seen before. Their shoulderswere bunched with muscle, their heads huge. Their eyes were on him, andhe sensed a feral intelligence in their baleful gaze.To his left the gray mare suddenly reared, dragged her reins loose ofthe rock, and leapt over the wall. The bay gelding followed her lead,and the two horses galloped away toward the hills. The huge houndsignored the horses.The voice came again, and he realized it was somehow speaking inside hishead. "Your order has fallen a long way since the Great Battle. Mybrothers will be pleased to hear of your decline. The mighty Riaj-nor,who once were lions, are now frightened monkeys with bright swords.""You show yourself," said Yu Yu, "and this monkey will cut your poxyhead from your poxy shoulders.""You cannot see me? Better and better.""No, but I can see you, creature of darkness," came the voice of Kysumu.The little Rajnee stepped up alongside Yu Yu. "Cloaked in shadow, youstand just out of harm's way."Yu Yu glanced at Kysumu and saw that he was staring toward the easternwall. Yu Yu squinted, trying to make out a figure there, but he couldsee nothing.The demon hounds began to move. Kysumu had still not drawn his sword."I see there are still lions in this world. But lions can also die."The hounds rushed in. Kysumu's blade flashed left and right. Two of thebeasts fell, writhing on the stones. A third struck Yu Yu, fangs closingon his shoulder. With a cry of pain Yu Yu rammed his sword deep into thebeast's belly. In its agony the hound opened its jaws, letting out aferocious howl. Yu Yu tore the blade clear and brought it down on thehound's skull. The sword tore through bone and wedged itself there.Desperately Yu Yu tried to haul it clear. The last two beasts rushed athim. Kysumu's sword sliced through the neck of the first, but the secondleapt for Yu Yu's throat.In that instant a black bolt materialized in the creature's skull, asecond lancing through its neck. The hound fell at Yu Yu's feet. Freeinghis sword, Yu Yu swung around to see the Gray Man upon his steeldustgelding, a small crossbow in his hand."Time to go," the Gray Man said softly, pointing toward the east.A thick mist was moving across the ancient city, a wall of fog slowlyrolling toward them. The Gray Man swung the gelding and galloped away.Yu Yu and Kysumu followed him. The pain in Yu Yu's shoulder was intensenow, and he could feel blood flowing down his left arm. Even so he ranswiftly.Far ahead he saw the Gray Man still riding away. "A pox on you,bastard!" he shouted.Glancing back, he saw that the wall of mist was closer, moving fasterthan he could run. Kysumu also glanced back. Yu Yu staggered and almostfell. Kysumu dropped back to take his arm. "Just a little farther," saidKysumu."We … can't … outrun it."Kysumu said nothing, and the two men moved on in the darkness. Yu Yuheard hoofbeats and looked up to see the Gray Man riding back towardthem, leading the gray mare and the bay gelding. Kysumu helped Yu Yuinto the saddle, then ran to his own mount.The mist was very close now, and Yu Yu could hear bestial soundsemanating from it.The gray mare needed no urging and took off at speed, Yu Yu clinging tothe saddle pommel. She was panting heavily by the time they reached theslope, but panic gave her greater strength and she fought her way up thesteep incline.A little ahead, the Gray Man swung the steeldust, gazing back downtoward the plain.The mist was swirling at the foot of the slope but not advancing. Yu Yuswayed in the saddle. He felt Kysumu's hand upon his arm and then passedinto darkness.