Forge of Darkness (The Kharkanas Trilogy 1)

The spilling of blood here was the real disaster to her mind. Especially if old Gripp had escaped the carnage.

‘Here, sir,’ said the sergeant, and she saw him standing a dozen or so paces away, where the road’s ditch dropped down against the out-cropping that marked the bend.

Risp joined him. The man gestured to a crack at the base of the out-crop. ‘He went down there, and I’d wager he rolled.’

‘Rather than fell? Why?’

‘There’s a rise before the edge, rubble and dirt sifting down from the cliff. You don’t slip uphill, sir. He’d have needed to work to get over that.’

She went to stand on the edge, leaning over to peer down. ‘But he couldn’t have guessed how deep, though.’

‘True enough,’ the man agreed. ‘It’s a good chance he broke his neck, if that goes down any distance. Or his legs, depending on how he landed.’

‘They couldn’t see all the way down,’ Risp muttered. ‘But they didn’t drop a rope and make sure either.’

‘Panic, sir,’ said the sergeant. ‘It can take anyone, like a hand to the throat. They had wounded and fallen comrades. They needed to get off the road, out of sight.’

Risp snorted. ‘You’re too forgiving, sergeant.’

‘Just seeing how it was, sir. We ain’t none of us immune to making mistakes.’

‘I wouldn’t have made this one,’ she replied.

‘No sir, we wouldn’t have.’

Not with you at my side, you mean. I’ll earn your respect yet, old man. ‘I don’t want to wait and wonder, sergeant. Lanterns, rope, let’s get on with this.’

‘Yes sir. You want it should be me climbing down?’

‘No. I’ll do it.’

‘Lieutenant-’

‘I’ll do it, I said. Tie the rope’s end to the lantern handle — we’ll see if we can lower it straight down. Did he hit ledges on the way down? Anything to break his fall? The light will show us.’

‘Yes sir.’

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The spilling of blood here was the real disaster to her mind. Especially if old Gripp had escaped the carnage.

‘Here, sir,’ said the sergeant, and she saw him standing a dozen or so paces away, where the road’s ditch dropped down against the out-cropping that marked the bend.

Risp joined him. The man gestured to a crack at the base of the out-crop. ‘He went down there, and I’d wager he rolled.’

‘Rather than fell? Why?’

‘There’s a rise before the edge, rubble and dirt sifting down from the cliff. You don’t slip uphill, sir. He’d have needed to work to get over that.’

She went to stand on the edge, leaning over to peer down. ‘But he couldn’t have guessed how deep, though.’

‘True enough,’ the man agreed. ‘It’s a good chance he broke his neck, if that goes down any distance. Or his legs, depending on how he landed.’

‘They couldn’t see all the way down,’ Risp muttered. ‘But they didn’t drop a rope and make sure either.’

‘Panic, sir,’ said the sergeant. ‘It can take anyone, like a hand to the throat. They had wounded and fallen comrades. They needed to get off the road, out of sight.’

Risp snorted. ‘You’re too forgiving, sergeant.’

‘Just seeing how it was, sir. We ain’t none of us immune to making mistakes.’

‘I wouldn’t have made this one,’ she replied.

‘No sir, we wouldn’t have.’

Not with you at my side, you mean. I’ll earn your respect yet, old man. ‘I don’t want to wait and wonder, sergeant. Lanterns, rope, let’s get on with this.’

‘Yes sir. You want it should be me climbing down?’

‘No. I’ll do it.’

‘Lieutenant-’

‘I’ll do it, I said. Tie the rope’s end to the lantern handle — we’ll see if we can lower it straight down. Did he hit ledges on the way down? Anything to break his fall? The light will show us.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘And get a burial detail for these poor guards. It’s the least we can do.’

When Ribs finally reappeared, the dog’s burr-snagged tail was wagging. Rancept’s grunt was soft. ‘Caught the echoes,’ he then said in a low voice.

‘What?’ Sukul demanded.

‘Riders, coming down from the north. Heading for the road. And they ain’t bandits.’

‘And you know all this from a wagging tail?’

‘That and the drooping left ear.’

There was no way to tell if he was serious and in any case she was already fed up with him and this whole venture. ‘How many riders?’

He seemed to be studying her in the gloom, and he made no reply.

After a moment she sighed. ‘Can we get going again? I’m cold.’

Ribs disappeared once again as soon as they rose. A short time later they came to a clearing. She saw the dog at the mouth of a trail to their right, just beyond a jumble of goat and sheep bones. Low stone houses offered up black doorways in an uneven ring around the expanse, like open, sagging mouths; she half expected to hear sorrowful moans drifting out from them.

‘This is how bandits live?’ she asked.

Rancept glanced back at her. ‘They used it, yes. But those huts have been standing there for five thousand years at least.’

She looked at them with renewed interest. ‘How do you know that?’

‘They’re old, milady. You’ll just have to take my word for it. About a dozen horses crossed this clearing. Went down where Ribs is. We’re about two thousand paces from the road here. They’ll come out just down from the ambush, but it’s a loose descent and there’s a chance they’ll hear us. There’s a bend on the road, just east of here. We can use another trail to take us opposite it.’

Rancept swung left and made his way towards one of the stone houses. Ribs leapt up and scampered to the castellan’s side, but halted at the threshold of the doorway.

Sukul saw the animal sink down, tail dipping.

‘Back of the hut,’ said Rancept when she joined him. ‘There’s a slab on the floor, with stone bosses set in a frame.’

‘A tunnel?’

‘A passageway,’ said Rancept. ‘But it cuts through rock we can’t climb over. Took a bit of work but it’s now clear enough for us to use.’

‘Why did you do that?’

Instead of answering, he ducked and disappeared inside the hut. Ribs edged in after him.