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  “Then what does?” he asked.

  “I’m not sure. At first I thought you were seeking redemption. That you were punishing yourself for something in the past, but I don’t think that’s it either. I think something terrible happened and you were forced to start again. I think you’re just trying to survive.”

  “I trusted the wrong man and lost everything.” Kovac’s eyes were angry and he took three long pulls of wine before the fury in them faded. “I can never go back. So, I came here seeking my fortune.”

  “I think you are a man of honour. You just hide it well from the others.”

  He didn’t disagree this time and Tammy didn’t push it.

  “And you? Why did you come here?” he asked suddenly.

  “To find out what was infecting the city and stop it spreading.”

  “I meant, why did you come to my room?”

  Tammy put down her bottle of wine, which somehow was already half empty. Her hands were steady. “Because today could be our last. Because everyone is enjoying themselves. Because I don’t want to be alone. And because I’ve seen how you’ve been looking at me since the temple.”

  Kovac tried to say something but she silenced him by pulling him close and kissing him. He tasted of wine and smelled of leather and oil. His beard tickled her face and she tried to remember the last time she’d kissed someone. The last time someone had held her. The last time she’d been at peace.

  “No more words,” she murmured, pulling up Kovac’s shirt and lifting it over his head. Running a hand across his chest she found several old scars, but their stories and the world outside would have to wait.

  CHAPTER 41

  As night fell on the last camp in Voechenka Zannah lit the torches above the gate and resumed her post on the wall, perhaps for the last time.

  The air was cool but there was no frost on the streets and the sky was clear of any clouds. A full moon sat fat and heavy overhead. It offered some light but it was sickly yellow and made it look as if the whole city was dying.

  The darkness stretched out in all directions as far as Zannah could see. Beyond their camp there wasn’t another living soul who remained free. There was only the endless night and the Forsaken.

  The wraith was back. She was leaning in an empty window of a nearby building and seemed unable to stop smiling. She looked delighted by the forthcoming battle and Zannah actually saw her rub her hands in glee at one point. In mockery of the Blessed Mother she put her left hand over her heart and blew a kiss at Zannah.

  It had taken the Morrin months to realise who she was. It was the only answer that made sense. Hers was a blessing Zannah had neither pursued nor wanted. Only a fool would think being regarded as her champion was a good thing. She was an immortal black-hearted bitch who cared for no one.

  Behind Zannah in the courtyard Tammy and the mercenaries were handing out weapons to everyone who could fight. There were some who were too old or too scared. They would be secured on the lowest level of the building with the children.

  Alyssa had ordered a temporary hospital to be set up on the ground floor, with every room being converted to care for the wounded. Those held in reserve to fight would wait in the courtyard and drag the injured away to be cared for by the priests.

  Tammy was attempting to organise people into squads but it was slow work. Each team would be led by at least one mercenary in an attempt to give them some order amid the chaos that would follow. The air was thick with tension, and not just because of the forthcoming battle. Some of the defenders had been humiliated, debased and treated as slaves by mercenaries in other camps. Now they were being asked to follow their orders. It made for an uneasy atmosphere.

  Alyssa had not made a speech about why they had to forget about past crimes and fight together, because everyone already knew. Tonight they would fight as one, united as the living against the undead. If anyone survived and saw the dawn, then there would be time to settle old grudges.

  All along the wall more torches were being lit and stacks of wine bottles lined up. They had been distilling wine since they’d first moved into the winery. It had provided them with fuel and light and now it would be a weapon against the Forsaken. Fire cleansed and purified and none could escape its wrath.

  Alyssa made a circuit around the wall, checking that everything was in place, before coming to stand beside Zannah. Together they looked into the dark for a while in silence.

  “I need to tell you something,” said Alyssa. “It’s about Roake.” Zannah said nothing and waited. “He’s asked for something in return for helping us.”

  “He could not even climb the rope. How can he help us fight?”

  “That’s not why he’s here. He’s neither one of us nor one of them. Alive or dead.”

  Zannah could hear the sympathy in her voice but she ignored it. She wanted to continue feeling nothing for Roake. “Then how can he help us?”

  “When the time is right, he’ll tell you.”

  Zannah pondered this for a while. Whatever Roake was offering was not something she would like.

  “And what is his price?” she asked.

  Alyssa placed her right hand over her heart, which she only did when thinking of praying to the Blessed Mother. “He believes taking his own life is a grave sin. He said it has to be you.”

  Zannah bared her teeth but said nothing. While they fought for their lives against the Forsaken he would cower in a dark corner and wait for it to be over. Then, if anyone survived he would dole out whatever nugget of information he had. It might prove useful to them, but his help would be meaningless if everyone was taken and changed. If that happened the Forsaken would kill him, as he could not become one of them. Whatever the outcome he would get his wish.

  “He is a maggot,” said Zannah, suddenly feeling something more than guilt for what had happened to Roake. Her hatred of him was starting to burn away any blame she carried for his current situation. “I will make him tell me what he knows and then kill him now.”

  “Not yet. Besides, I think there will be plenty of death without adding one more body.” Alyssa’s eyes passed over those in the courtyard and she quietly whispered a prayer. Only now was she coming to terms with what Zannah had known for some time. Very few, if any of her people, would survive the night. Zannah admired Alyssa for many things, especially maintaining her faith in the face of the horrors they’d experienced, but now she had realised the truth.

  Balfruss slowly made his way across the courtyard and up the stairs. Zannah noticed he still had heavy shadows under his eyes, but his face was not quite as drawn and pale. He moved like a much older man, but that wouldn’t matter as long as his skill remained.

  “Your magic?” asked Alyssa, and Balfruss shook his head.

  “As long as I don’t try to do much with it, I’m fine,” he said with a bitter smile. “Once I’m free of this place I’m confident it will return to normal. For now I’ll just have to let this speak for me,” he said, tapping the axe on his belt. Zannah noticed he hadn’t said when he left this place, only that he would be free of it.

  “We could use your help leading a squad,” said Alyssa.

  “It’s the least I can do,” he answered. “I have one last errand and then I’ll be ready.”

  He went back inside, moving through the crowd without anyone paying attention. When he had first arrived people had thought him a saviour and looked at him with reverence. Now they understood the truth. That for all of his past accomplishments he was just flesh and blood like everyone else, and he could die just like them.

  Balfruss glanced into a few of the rooms on the ground floor as he went past. Stacks of bandages, towels, blankets and crude medical equipment were piled up in every room. The priests were checking that everything was ready or sat praying with their eyes closed. Over the last few weeks he’d not learned a great deal about them but he knew them all to be caring people who sought only to protect and preserve life. They were also human and he suspected several were asking fo
r courage to get them through the next few hours.

  At the end of the hall he came face to face with Kai, just coming out of one of the rooms. The plague priest stopped and offered what was probably intended to be a friendly smile. “Hello there,” he said. When Balfruss didn’t reciprocate he glanced around and lowered his voice. “Something I can do for you, Sorcerer?”

  “Can you stop what’s about to happen? Can you save their lives?” said Balfruss, gesturing behind him.

  Kai’s grimace was almost human. “No. It’s not permitted. We can’t change the course of major events. If I saved everyone here the ripples of that decision would echo for a long time.”

  Balfruss wondered who had made the rule and who Kai was answerable to, but he didn’t ask, afraid of what the answer might reveal.

  “Then can you at least protect those in the lower levels? Can you stop any Forsaken getting to them?”

  “I can do that,” promised Kai. He gestured for Balfruss to follow him and they went down a set of stairs to the next level. All of the rooms along the corridor were deserted.

  “Stay there,” said Kai, before walking to the far end of the corridor. As he passed each doorway the shadows seemed to thicken, seeping across the floor like fog. The darkness crawled and clumped together until the ground was completely obscured. Next the shadows started to rise into the air with black tendrils and spread out, becoming denser by the second. By the time Kai reached the far end of the corridor Balfruss could barely see him. He blinked a few times and the fog became a wall of complete darkness.

  Somewhere in the void a pair of red eyes appeared, glowing with an alien light. The two eyes became four, then eight, then more. A hundred eyes blinked in unison and he heard the rustling of something large brushing against the stone walls.

  If any Forsaken made it this far they would soon regret it when they came face to face with what lurked in the dark. Backing away slowly, Balfruss retraced his steps and breathed a sigh of relief when he was back in the courtyard.

  Despite their best efforts to appear brave, Balfruss could see that most people were afraid of what awaited them. The Forsaken were not just people from another country that sought to conquer and enslave them. They were something else entirely, alien and unnatural. Something that wanted to invade their minds and take over their bodies. The Forsaken would consume them and then continue using their bodies after death.

  The thought of that, alone, was difficult for them to cope with. Balfruss thought it best they remain ignorant of what was lurking in the dark below.

  Tammy finished organising the last squad and after double-checking that they knew what to do, sat down to rest and gather her thoughts. Kovac was standing with another group of local people, all of them determined to fight despite only one of them having ever held a weapon. They were all pale and scared. Everyone had been given hot food earlier in the day, but one good meal wasn’t enough to build their strength. They were out of time. They just had to try and hope for the best.

  Once Kovac had finished demonstrating a series of weapon moves to his squad he came across to sit down beside her. Neither of them had spoken about what had happened and while she didn’t regret it, Tammy wasn’t sure if she should say something. Kovac was equally taciturn and had treated her no differently than before, which she appreciated.

  “Do you think anyone will survive?” he whispered, being careful that his voice didn’t carry very far.

  “It depends. All we can do is try.”

  Tammy suspected that the Forsaken had greater numbers than them, but when someone was turned it didn’t make them into a warrior. They were more savage and driven, but the people in the winery had nowhere else to go and they knew what would happen if they were overrun. She also knew how hard people fought when they were defending their home and families.

  All she knew for certain was that it would be brutal and bloody.

  “Any regrets?” asked Kovac.

  “A few, but not recent ones. What about you?” she asked.

  “No, just old scores I wish I’d settled. I might not get the chance now.”

  A cry went up on the wall and all eyes turned towards a woman pointing and shouting. Her words were lost in the clamour that followed but Tammy didn’t need to hear what she’d said.

  She already knew. They all knew. The Forsaken were coming.

  CHAPTER 42

  In the gloomy light provided by the two torches above the gate, Tammy stared down at the horde of Forsaken filling the street. Many were deep in the shadows but those at the front were not what she had been expecting.

  Below the old church of the Maker she’d seen Forsaken whose skin was turning purple, but otherwise they’d looked human. Roake’s words came back to her about the Embrace being temporary while the parasite grew to maturity. Every single person on the street had been remade into something alien and grotesque.

  Their skin was the colour of a ripe plum marbled with veins of red and dark blue. Bony protrusions grew out of either side of a hairless dimpled skull that stretched backwards more than before. White eyes glared up at her from under a heavy bone ridge, and a wide jaw was filled with pointed teeth and a split black tongue. The darkness hid the worst details, as well as making it difficult for her to judge how many were out there.

  Each of the Forsaken carried a bladed weapon, swords, axes and an array of pole-arms. They were not here to take prisoners and create more soldiers for their army. This was the first wave of an invasion that would destroy Voechenka and then spread to the rest of Shael like a plague.

  The defenders on the wall blanched at the sight, several crying out in terror. A few started to pray, their courage wavering.

  “It’s time,” said Tammy, nudging Balfruss.

  The Sorcerer took a deep breath and closed his eyes to help him concentrate. Normally this would have been easy, but now it required a huge effort on his part. Tammy hoped he could manage it because right now they needed something to inspire the defenders and remind them that the Forsaken were mortal.

  She began to worry, as nothing happened apart from sweat trickling down the sides of Balfruss’s face. Then, with a loud detonation, the streets burst into light and the Forsaken howled in pain and surprise. They had used fear of what lurked in the darkness as another weapon that Tammy wanted to take away from them.

  A series of barrels filled with distilled wine had been stashed in buildings around the winery during the day. With a little help from Balfruss they erupted, spitting blue and yellow flames into the air. The creatures recoiled and many covered their eyes or turned their faces away as if they were sensitive to the light. A ring of orange flames encircled the winery on all sides, illuminating everywhere.

  Now it was time to show everyone that the Forsaken were mortal.

  “Light them up!” shouted Tammy, and all along the wall people lit arrowheads that had been wrapped in wool and dipped in alcohol. “Fire!”

  Two dozen arrows sailed through the air before slamming into the Forsaken, who screamed in pain and thrashed about, colliding with their neighbours. Those who were hit bled and died and they did not get back up again. It was important for everyone on the wall to know that despite the physical changes the Forsaken could still be killed.

  “Fire at will!” Tammy bellowed, and all along the wall bow strings twanged as the creatures gathered for a charge. More fell with flaming arrows in their chests, some of them catching fire.

  In the middle of the street several of the enemy appeared, holding a long battering ram. Tammy started to shout a warning, but Zannah and several others had already spotted the danger and had tossed flaming bottles at those carrying the ram. Four hit their targets, which were immediately engulfed in flames. Animal-like screams soared into the night as the creatures dropped the ram and lurched off into the dark. The ram lay forgotten in the street but it wasn’t over yet. Several Forsaken carrying ladders ran towards them, and from the sounds of battle around her she knew other walls besides their own were u
nder attack. This was only the beginning.

  Prince studied the Forsaken as they ran towards the rear wall of the winery. They were unusual to look at, but no more peculiar than the Morrin who had horns or the Vorga who came from the ocean. Whatever their origin they could bleed and die like any other mortal. Their peculiar screams of pain from outside the front gate had proven that. Now he just needed to show the local people here. They needed to see it with their own eyes.

  “Take out a few,” he said, nudging Teela. “And laugh while you do it.”

  Teela raised an eyebrow but nodded as she drew back her bow and picked out a target. She’d come to trust him and was obviously interested in him, which he used to his advantage from time to time. She whooped in delight as one of her arrows went through an eye, punching one of the Forsaken off its feet. Teela took out another two targets, laughing all the while. The people of Shael took heart and their initial fear began to fade.

  The Forsaken’s unusual features were a blessing. On previous nights the people beside him had fought friends and relatives who had been taken and changed. Now none of them looked familiar. They were no longer people, but had become creatures. They were all made from the same mould and there was little to distinguish them.

  One thing he noticed was that they were more organised than before and were almost moving in unison. A quick scan around showed him no obvious leaders who might be directing them, but there had to be someone.

  As they came closer with their ladders, Prince drew his sword, but his eyes were still studying the enemy. Finally he spotted what he was looking for. Just beyond the fires he could see two figures watching the battle. He suspected they were directing this part of the attack.

  “Teeva, do you see them?” he asked, knowing her eyesight was better than his. She squinted and tilted her head to one side in a manner he thought quite endearing, not that he’d tell her. She might take it as an expression of interest, which would make her sister jealous.