After Effects

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"All I'm sayin'," hissed Chani, "is that we ain't like the others. The ones that got themselves killed."

Keri winced as she shifted position so that a particular knot on the tree she was leaning against was no longer digging into her spine. Mentally she was pacing up and down, but all she had strength for was sitting in an ungainly heap. It had been a long, long day… and some sixth sense suggested that it might not yet be over.

She knew that Chani had a very good point, but Keri had not gone so far as to convince herself of the rights and wrongs of what was being proposed. Staring into the hastily made fire of assorted flammable debris, her eyes betrayed only fatigue.

It had all seemed so simple in the morning light. Enter the crypt, ransack the place, allow those in charge to find what they wanted to find, then leave. But as the day had progressed, it had been anything but simple…

In all her years, Keri had never been involved with a raiding party to match that one; two church knights, a sage to decipher the writings and identify the target, a priest with healing salves and powders, a thief to disarm traps and pick locks on doors, an archer and a swordswoman. The last three were mere hirelings, but as the sun set, only the hirelings were alive.

The Temple of Tragedy had been well named; entering was simplicity itself, but leaving unscathed was rumoured to be impossible. And Keri knew that most rumours had some truth in them.

Nonetheless, a hire is a hire, and it was better than fair pay on offer. The assembled team bore an embarrassment of wisdom, guile and battle-hardened experience. Nor had they been careless; each step had been carefully checked, each potential danger weighed and assessed… even so, they had not been prepared for the horror that had descended upon them.

The story of the Temple was simply told, though it left many things unsaid; a sisterhood of church nuns began to experiment with the effects of alchemy upon particular species of animals. Whatever their intent had been – possibly to discover means of healing or cures to new plagues – it slowly dissolved as they adopted forbidden rites and practises to enhance their chances of success. Horribly disfigured and mutated beasts were seen prowling nearby, and in time none had the courage to go near the place, much less enter.

Church elders were aghast that the nuns' activities could produce such fruit, and sent various clergy to forbid further experiments. None returned. Too late, the church passed the matter on to the secular authorities, who were already alarmed at the growing number of people who had gone missing in the general vicinity. An army was assembled, but rather than storm the temple, they simply laid siege to it at night and set it aflame with fire arrows and burning pitch. The nuns, it was assumed, perished.

However, the victory was not without cost. The fire sent noxious fumes into the ranks of the army; within a month, over half had succumbed to various diseases and by the end of the year only a handful lived. Tales of that terrible night spread throughout the land, and the remains of the temple were shunned as a place of evil.

Although seventy years had passed since the night of the siege, the Temple of Tragedy had lost none of its gruesome reputation. Those who had sought to plunder the crypt had never returned. More worrying was the rumour that the sum of all the nuns' experiments was contained in a single tome, which revealed their most dread secrets; alteration, corruption, command of not only life and half-life, but also animation of the dead.

Yes, thought Keri, most rumours have some truth in them, as the church elders who hired her must have known… for the infamous Tome of the Temple of Tragedy lay wrapped in a blanket not four feet from where she sat.

***

The clearing at the edge of the forest was quiet; no birds cried to the night sky, nor owls or any other living thing. The only sound was the crackle and hiss from the fire that Keri and Chani were staring at. And quiet was not the same as peaceful, for Chani's murmurs were setting unwelcome thoughts sizzling through Keri's mind.

"Aye, we agreed to take yon book back to th' church folk so's they could burn it, and they'll pay us good coin too. But those who most wanted it done that way are naught but meat. You 'n' me, we're not the same as them."

"Maybe not," sighed Keri, "but we swore an oath to the priest." It struck her as odd that such an argument should sound so hollow to even her own ears so quickly.

"Oaths are made t'be broken. I hear tell that you've done yer share o' that in the past… why let it bother you now? No, if we just get the thing away from these folk then we're doin' them favour enough."

"Once I take a hire, I see it through. I don't break my word."

"You ain't thinkin' straight. This here's an opportunity like what only comes once in a lifetime… you won't never need to give your word ever again, much less'n worry about breaking it."

For once, Keri had no sensible reply. Instead she said, "What are you proposing?"

Chani smiled slowly, sensing the battle half-won. "Why, only this… there are some out yonder who'll pay serious treasure for this here book… so why not us two go out and give it to 'em, so's we can go live like rich folks? You ain't gettin' no younger, woman… time to think about the future. Day'll come when you won't be able to get out 'o bed without some part o' you complainin' serious like… reckon you'll be able to swing that there sword 'o yours then?"

"Maybe not… but you said 'us two'… there's three of us."

"What, the archer girl that went back to town for horses and supplies? She ain't here, more fool her… she ain't and we are. We got the book. We go now, and even mounted up she's never gonna find us."

Keri fought back her disgust at Chani's callousness. From the thief's point of view, she was only being sensible. From Keri's point of view, there were some things that counted more.

"No. I'm not leaving her. She deserves reward as much as we do."

Chani studied Keri's face for a moment, then shrugged. "All right, three of us, then. Serious treasure split three ways isn't that different from serious treasure split two… an' I even get t'have some of that 'clear conscience' you're on about. Leastways, I hope that girl's grateful t'have a friend like you."

"It works both ways." Keri said evenly. Yes, Chani's suggestion made sense… sell the book to some rich, power-mad noble... then ride far, far away from the place so that whatever the book brings into the world never touches them… live the life of the wealthy, rather than that of a sword-for-hire… it was almost impossible to turn down.

Almost….

It was the opposing argument, the one that Rubine would almost certainly recite, that Keri was having trouble with. If the book were to fall into the hands of one intelligent enough – and ruthless enough – to use it, then the results could be horror beyond imagining. The warped creatures that they found in the Temple would become commonplace… and no normal fighters or troops could withstand an army of the dead…

An army of the dead….

Slowly, Keri untangled her legs and stood up, feeling the weight of the sword at her hip. Chani eyed her nervously.

"You've dealt fair with me, so I'll deal fair with you, so far as I can." said Keri. "You could have kept your silence then knifed me while I slept, yet you chose to make me an offer. That raises you up more than a few notches above an ordinary thief…"

"The offer's still there, woman…" growled Chani, as she also stood up.

"I can't accept. I'm sorry."

Chani sighed. "So am I. You're good with yer sword, I'll grant that, but you bin swinging that thing for too long today to be full rested, like…. I be thinkin' you be dead tired. But you won't sleep and leave me the book, so…"

"…So we have it out, the two of us, here and now." Keri finished. Drawing her sword, she measured its weight against her failing strength. Chani was all too right; she needed rest, not another fight, least of all against a woman that was almost fresh, but Keri had learned to deal best with a bad situation. If the foe has the greater energy, let the foe use that energy.

The tip of Keri's sword slowly arced back and forth about a foot from the ground. Chani drew her own short sword in one hand, and dagger in the other. The thief was agile as well, skipping lightly around the fire, just out of range of Keri's sword.

Economy of movement was Keri's only hope. At Chani's first pass, their swords clashed at head height, and the dagger easily was deflected. Chani grunted in acknowledgement, and swung her sword at Keri's face. Keri simply stepped back.

The second pass was more difficult to deal with, but again Keri deflected both sword and dagger. The defensive strategy was not without risks, since it meant foregoing her own attacks in order to burn out her opponent; any mistakes and she would suffer, while her opponent risked nothing.

Chani's sword darted forward too swiftly for Keri to block, so she stepped back, and stepped back again as the dagger came swinging in at her side. As Chani passed by, Keri took a step back towards the fire. The last thing she wanted was to fight in darkness.

She watched the light catch Chani's twin blades… even though the woman herself was hard to see, it was well within Keri's capabilities to judge her stance by the angle and movement of the steel she carried. Her opponent was being more careful than it seemed; although her attacks had seemed wild, they were planned to lure Keri out of position and off balance. The short sword could be dealt with in almost all situations, but the dagger…

Again Chani's sword came slashing in, this time from the side, and Keri blocked with her sword, but when the dagger came towards her head, she ducked beneath it and brought her fist in hard against Chani's face. The thief stumbled back, holding her mouth. Keri could see blood on her glove.

Chani laughed. "Well now, first blood to you, and I never would have thought that. Good move."

"Necessary," said Keri, "to keep a foe such as yourself at bay." One of the first things that Keri had taught Rubine was the importance of the rules, and knowing when to break them.

Chani brought her sword up in salute, so Keri did likewise. For all her darting about, the thief still looked full of energy, advancing on her opponent with cat-like grace.

The attack was sudden and deadly. Keri was only partially successful in blocking the sword, for its pommel hit her hard in the shoulder. She stepped back and ducked as the dagger came again at her head, but her balance was upset. Chani pressed forward, and Keri had to fight to stand erect.

Chani reversed her dagger and slammed its pommel into Keri's chest. Recognising the non-lethal nature of the blow, Keri accepted it with a grunt in order to fend of her opponent's still-dangerous sword. When Chani reversed the dagger again to bare the blade, Keri pushed her opponent's sword away with her own and made a daring sweep at Chani's legs. The thief danced backwards.

Chani allowed Keri no peace from then on. Each surging attack was repulsed, but Keri was forced to call upon the last reverses of her strength in order to stay alive. The slashing sword was parried, the dagger blocked or avoided, and blows from fists or knees accepted where necessary.

At length, the thief paused, standing back. "You've done well, far better'n I'd give credit for. If you were fresh, I'd be dead, no question. But you ain't. Look, drop the sword and let me tie you up. You can tell your friend and the rest that I clocked you in the night."

Keri sighed. "It's not about whether I live or die. It's about that thrice-cursed book. If it falls into the wrong hands, thousands could die – and worse. You want to be part of an undead army?"

"No more'n you do, I reckon… but I plan to be far from here, even if it were to work out like you say – an' that's not to say that it will. I'll risk that, an' more, for a life of easy livin'.."

Chani came in low, slashing at Keri's feet, leaving her back unprotected. For a second Keri considered a surprise attack, but defended against the sword – a lucky choice, as it turned out, for the thief's sword came arcing up and nearly cut into Keri's abdomen. However, as Chani somersaulted away, Keri became aware of a thin line of fire burning her forearm… she looked down and saw blood.

Chani saw it too. "At last," she said.

Something in the way she said it made Keri pause. "The dagger?"

"Poisoned. Sorry. That last move's never failed me yet. Go for me back and I get you with me sword – if you don't, I get you with me dagger. You'll need a priest for that; there's no antidote."

Keri fought the rising tide of panic. "I won't give in."

"Doesn't matter. The more you fight, the faster it'll slow you up. Lie down and die peaceful-like in yer sleep, or fight and die painful-like as I cut you up. As soon as I reckon I can get yon book and be safe away, I'm gone."

"No."

"Your choice – fer now." This time, the roles were reversed. Chani didn't attack, but paced around her wounded opponent. Keri had no idea how long it would take for the poison to incapacitate her, but something in Chani's manner told her that it wouldn't be very long. Already her forearm felt like lead. Soon it would be her entire arm…

Keri decided to risk everything on one attack. She charged Chani shoulder first, catching the thief by surprise and hip-throwing her to the ground. Chani landed badly on her back, and Keri took the one opportunity that had been offered to her as quickly as she could. Clasping her sword, with both hands, she drove her sword down through Chani's chest and two inches into the ground beneath. Chani spasmed, then coughed up blood.

Keri fell to her knees. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she watched the light in Chani's eyes flicker out. "You deserved better…"

It was rare for Keri to regret any opponent's death, but then it was equally rare for her to face an opponent of such quality – a point that was underlined by the fact that death would soon claim her also. A wave of fatigue gripped her as her vision began to blur…

***

Keri first became aware of the sound of the crackling of wood on a fire. Sounds like I'm in Hell, she thought. No great surprise.

But when she opened her eyes, she saw Rubine sat beside her. No, she thought, the girl's too good to be down here… she doesn't even cuss.

"Well, finally!" said Rubine with more than a touch of relief. "I thought you were going to sleep all night!"

Only then did it occur to Keri that she might still be alive. "The book.." she groaned.

"The priest took it, we built a fire and burned it. After the priest got that poison out of you, of course… I should have warned you to steer clear of Chani's little dagger."

"You knew?"

"I'm surprised you didn't. Now eat this; as soon as you're fit, we've go a ways to go."

***

It was only when they had left the priest and his guards and made several miles on horseback that Rubine finally let curiosity get the better of her and ask Keri about what had happened. The archer listened in uncharacteristic silence as Keri told her of Chani and her offer, and the fight that had ensued.

"… so that's it." Keri concluded. "In her way, she was the most principled thief I've ever met, and a deadly fighter. If it wasn't for that four-times-cursed book, I'd be glad to drink with her."

Rubine was taken aback by the extravagant compliment. Keri never talked that way about anyone. "But… about that book… you don't think she was right?"

"No, I don't. I don't blame her for thinking as she did… a thief's got to think like that, otherwise they'd be no damned good as a thief. But there's wider things to think about…" Keri looked Rubine in the eye with a smile. "I guess I've picked up some of your morality."

Rubine blushed, then reached down to open a saddlebag. She pulled out a plain brown-covered book. "And I guess that works both ways. What should we do with this?"

Keri stared. "That's not – you said –"

"The book the priest burned had the Tome's cover, all right – no mistaking that, after all – but its contents was a treatise on the uses of swamp leaf against the dire rear and other such ailments. Back in the temple, I took the opportunity to gut the Tome and swap its insides with a similar book I found."

Keri looked away. "So Chani and I fought over nothing."

"Did you? I guess that depends on what you want to do with this thing. It's worth a fortune to the right people, you know…"

Keri brought her horse to a halt and dismounted. "I know. C'mon, we've got some firewood to gather."

© Bomur 2002