‘They’ve been experimented upon. Foul acts of sorcery. Turned into half-men, feral, beast-like.’ He looked Ulf in the eye. ‘And Kadoshim are there.’
Ulf blinked. Sat back, blinked some more, a frown creasing his face. He shook his head.
‘Lad, you’ve lost me.’
‘There are Kadoshim and worse up at that mine. Plain enough for you?’
Ulf smiled gently, shaking his head. He shared a look with Hildith.
‘Drem, there’s no Kadoshim up this way. All that trouble’s down south. That’s why we’re all here. Why so many more have come north this year.’
‘They’re here,’ Drem said, insistent. ‘And they’re killing your townsfolk. Or making them into something new. Into killers themselves.’ He looked into Ulf’s eyes, saw only worry and sympathy mingled. Not even an ounce of belief of fear. Hildith stared at him, a frown creasing her face. Others whispered to one another.
‘I could take a ride out there, if that’d make you feel any better,’ Ulf said.
‘Only if you take every man that can hold a spear with you,’ Drem said.
‘Don’t think that’s going to happen, Drem. I’m only offering to ease your mind a bit. And I’d like to have a nose around that mine.’
Murmurs of agreement at that.
The memory of the cages in the rock face came back to him, of the boats on the lake, men kneeling to the Kadoshim on the pier. He looked at Ulf, saw that he didn’t believe a word of what Drem was telling him.
‘Can we get on with our business?’ a man at the table said, heavily muscled, bald with a grey-braided beard. Drem didn’t recognize him.
‘Hold a moment, Ridav,’ Hildith said.
‘Aye, the lad’s recently lost his da,’ Ulf said.
‘And he has my sympathy,’ Ridav said, ‘but he’s clearly exhausted and delusional. Give him a bed and a jug of mead, and we can get on with our business.’
‘I’ll take a few of my boys and ride up to the mine for you, Drem,’ Ulf said, ‘but it won’t be for a few days.’
Ulf going up to the mine not believing me and unprepared would be like sending him to slaughter.
Sometimes there’s no getting through to a man. And sometimes the only answer is blood and steel.
With a sigh Drem stood. ‘My thanks for the stew and drink, Ulf,’ he said.
‘Stay, lad,’ Ulf said. ‘You’ll want to see the bear-baiting on the morrow, and a day of rest and some of my Tyna’s cooking, you’ll be feeling better about all this . . .’ He waved a hand. ‘Business.’
‘Bear-baiting?’ Drem said.
‘Aye. We trapped it in a gorge, gave it a boar’s leg full of enough valerian to kill a horse, chained it and dragged it back.’
‘Why?’
‘There’s a lot of people in this town that lost kin to that bear. Seems like a way to give them some justice. And people always like bear-baiting. Set the hounds on it, bet a few coin. It’ll be a right good day. Just what we all need.’
‘There’s not enough hounds in all of the north to bring that white bear down,’ Drem said.
‘Might have to bleed it a bit first, or give it some more valerian to slow it down,’ Hildith said. ‘Either way, it’ll be a show and a crowd-pleaser. You should stay. It killed your da.’
‘It didn’t kill my da,’ Drem said, his hand instinctively going to the bear claw around his neck. He was surprised to find it was gone, his cloak and shirt torn, the claw and leather cord gone.
When Sten tried to grab me.
‘It did kill your da, lad,’ Ulf said soothingly. ‘You’re just a bit mixed up in the head. You should stay with us a day or two.’
‘You’re a kind man, Ulf. My da always liked you,’ Drem said. ‘I hope the Kadoshim don’t kill you.’ He walked out of the hold with Ulf and the rest of the Assembly staring at him openmouthed.
As he rode out of the gates of Kergard he reined in and stopped. He looked to the south, thought of the message he had sent with Asger. Then he looked north, to his hold, then past it, east, to Starstone Lake and the mine.
I don’t know what to do. I should run. They will come for me eventually. No matter how well I hid my tracks, they will find them in the end. I could go to Dun Seren, tell them what I have found. They need to know.
He sucked in a deep breath and looked to the south, a white landscape undulating into the distance. Exhaustion swept over him again, and he knew that he could not outrun any pursuit over fifty leagues of the Desolation.
And what of my oath. Vengeance for my da, and the fulfilment of his last wish. To take Asroth’s head? How will I accomplish that if I run? The sword must be at the mine, in the hands of the Kadoshim.
He heard a deep roar, making his stomach lurch, then realized it was not coming from the north, but west, from the meadow in front of him.
The white bear.
Without really knowing why, he clicked his tongue and guided his horse down the slope towards the meadow. He passed holds, more like one big hold, a score of homes merging into a village on Kergard’s doorstep, children laughing amidst the snow, throwing snowballs, a big hound barking, jumping and snapping snowballs from the air.
He rode out onto open meadow, carpeted in white, and saw the cage. It was huge, a gaol of iron bars. Inside it the white bear was motionless, blending with the snow. Only as Drem approached did it move, lifting its big head and regarding him, or maybe his horse. One guard was sitting upon a stool a distance from the cage, a fire burning, pot bubbling over it. Drem knew him – Aed, one of Calder’s sons.
‘Not too close,’ Aed said to him as Drem rode up. His horse whinnied, ears back at the scent and sight of the bear, danced on the spot, not happy about going on. Drem dismounted, not even looking at Aed, and walked to the cage.
The iron bars were as thick as Drem’s arm, and he could see where the bear had vented its fury upon them, scratches and gouges in the metal, though not even the white bear’s strength or bulk could break these bonds.
A rumbling growl, deep in the bear’s belly. Drem saw the scars and scabs that crisscrossed the beast’s body, the claw missing from its right paw. He felt a wave of sympathy for it.
You are caged, going to be torn piece from piece on the morrow, a crowd watching and cheering and laughing as it happens. All for acts that you have not committed.
‘Going to be a good show on the morrow,’ Aed said behind him.
The bear lurched upright, shockingly fast, and then its head was a handspan from the bars, on a level with Drem, staring at him. Aed stumbled back a few paces.
‘Careful, Drem,’ Aed said.
The bear leaned forwards, muzzle pressing against the iron bars, and it took in a great breath, sniffing in Drem’s scent, a snorting breath out, misting in the cold.
Drem stared into the bear’s eyes, seeing defiance, an animal’s strength and spirit. Unbowed. Indomitable. It would never give in.
Like my da.
And confusion, at a world suddenly turned upside down, inside out. He remembered lying flat on his back in the forest, the white bear looking down at him, then fleeing into the undergrowth.
You spared my life.
‘You didn’t do it,’ Drem said sadly, ‘you don’t deserve any of this.’